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April 25, 2025 - Equipped 2025 - Day 2 - 1:30PM Session   Bud leads a bible study reflecting on Isaiah. As an inspired profit of God, Isaiah would be aware of coming savior and the potential eternal punishment for those who have rejected God.   Isaiah 40-45 - God's People Are Comforted 40 “Comfort, yes, comfort My people!” Says your God. 2 “Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, That her warfare is ended, That her iniquity is pardoned; For she has received from the Lord's hand Double for all her sins.” 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be exalted And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth; 5 The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” 6 The voice said, “Cry out!” And he said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is grass, And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. 7 The grass withers, the flower fades, Because the breath of the Lord blows upon it; Surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.” 9 O Zion, You who bring good tidings, Get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, You who bring good tidings, Lift up your voice with strength, Lift it up, be not afraid; Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” 10 Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand, And His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him. 11 He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young. 12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, Measured heaven with a span And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales And the hills in a balance? 13 Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, Or as His counselor has taught Him? 14 With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, And taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge, And showed Him the way of understanding? 15 Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, And are counted as the small dust on the scales; Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing. 16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering. 17 All nations before Him are as nothing, And they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless. 18 To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him? 19 The workman molds an image, The goldsmith overspreads it with gold, And the silversmith casts silver chains. 20 Whoever is too impoverished for such a contribution Chooses a tree that will not rot; He seeks for himself a skillful workman To prepare a carved image that will not totter. 21 Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. 23 He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless. 24 Scarcely shall they be planted, Scarcely shall they be sown, Scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth, When He will also blow on them, And they will wither, And the whirlwind will take them away like stubble. 25 “To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high, And see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, By the greatness of His might And the strength of His power; Not one is missing. 27 Why do you say, O Jacob, And speak, O Israel: “My way is hidden from the Lord, And my just claim is passed over by my God”? 28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, 31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. Israel Assured of God's Help 41 “Keep silence before Me, O coastlands, And let the people renew their strength! Let them come near, then let them speak; Let us come near together for judgment. 2 “Who raised up one from the east? Who in righteousness called him to His feet? Who gave the nations before him, And made him rule over kings? Who gave them as the dust to his sword, As driven stubble to his bow? 3 Who pursued them, and passed safely By the way that he had not gone with his feet? 4 Who has performed and done it, Calling the generations from the beginning? ‘I, the Lord, am the first; And with the last I am He.' ” 5 The coastlands saw it and feared, The ends of the earth were afraid; They drew near and came. 6 Everyone helped his neighbor, And said to his brother, “Be of good courage!” 7 So the craftsman encouraged the goldsmith; He who smooths with the hammer inspired him who strikes the anvil, Saying, “It is ready for the soldering”; Then he fastened it with pegs, That it might not totter. 8 “But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, The descendants of Abraham My friend. 9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its farthest regions, And said to you, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away: 10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.' 11 “Behold, all those who were incensed against you Shall be ashamed and disgraced; They shall be as nothing, And those who strive with you shall perish. 12 You shall seek them and not find them— Those who contended with you. Those who war against you Shall be as nothing, As a nonexistent thing. 13 For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.' 14 “Fear not, you worm Jacob, You men of Israel! I will help you,” says the Lord And your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. 15 “Behold, I will make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp teeth; You shall thresh the mountains and beat them small, And make the hills like chaff. 16 You shall winnow them, the wind shall carry them away, And the whirlwind shall scatter them; You shall rejoice in the Lord, And glory in the Holy One of Israel. 17 “The poor and needy seek water, but there is none, Their tongues fail for thirst. I, the Lord, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. 18 I will open rivers in desolate heights, And fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, And the dry land springs of water. 19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree, The myrtle and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the cypress tree and the pine And the box tree together, 20 That they may see and know, And consider and understand together, That the hand of the Lord has done this, And the Holy One of Israel has created it. The Futility of Idols 21 “Present your case,” says the Lord. “Bring forth your strong reasons,” says the King of Jacob. 22 “Let them bring forth and show us what will happen; Let them show the former things, what they were, That we may consider them, And know the latter end of them; Or declare to us things to come. 23 Show the things that are to come hereafter, That we may know that you are gods; Yes, do good or do evil, That we may be dismayed and see it together. 24 Indeed you are nothing, And your work is nothing; He who chooses you is an abomination. 25 “I have raised up one from the north, And he shall come; From the rising of the sun he shall call on My name; And he shall come against princes as though mortar, As the potter treads clay. 26 Who has declared from the beginning, that we may know? And former times, that we may say, ‘He is righteous'? Surely there is no one who shows, Surely there is no one who declares, Surely there is no one who hears your words. 27 The first time I said to Zion, ‘Look, there they are!' And I will give to Jerusalem one who brings good tidings. 28 For I looked, and there was no man; I looked among them, but there was no counselor, Who, when I asked of them, could answer a word. 29 Indeed they are all worthless; Their works are nothing; Their molded images are wind and confusion. The Servant of the Lord 42 “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. 2 He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. 3 A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth. 4 He will not fail nor be discouraged, Till He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands shall wait for His law.” 5 Thus says God the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it, And spirit to those who walk on it: 6 “I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles, 7 To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house. 8 I am the Lord, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images. 9 Behold, the former things have come to pass, And new things I declare; Before they spring forth I tell you of them.” Praise to the Lord 10 Sing to the Lord a new song, And His praise from the ends of the earth, You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, You coastlands and you inhabitants of them! 11 Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice, The villages that Kedar inhabits. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing, Let them shout from the top of the mountains. 12 Let them give glory to the Lord, And declare His praise in the coastlands. 13 The Lord shall go forth like a mighty man; He shall stir up His zeal like a man of war. He shall cry out, yes, shout aloud; He shall prevail against His enemies. Promise of the Lord's Help 14 “I have held My peace a long time, I have been still and restrained Myself. Now I will cry like a woman in labor, I will pant and gasp at once. 15 I will lay waste the mountains and hills, And dry up all their vegetation; I will make the rivers coastlands, And I will dry up the pools. 16 I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, And crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, And not forsake them. 17 They shall be turned back, They shall be greatly ashamed, Who trust in carved images, Who say to the molded images, ‘You are our gods.' 18 “Hear, you deaf; And look, you blind, that you may see. 19 Who is blind but My servant, Or deaf as My messenger whom I send? Who is blind as he who is perfect, And blind as the Lord's servant? 20 Seeing many things, but you do not observe; Opening the ears, but he does not hear.” Israel's Obstinate Disobedience 21 The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness' sake; He will exalt the law and make it honorable. 22 But this is a people robbed and plundered; All of them are snared in holes, And they are hidden in prison houses; They are for prey, and no one delivers; For plunder, and no one says, “Restore!” 23 Who among you will give ear to this? Who will listen and hear for the time to come? 24 Who gave Jacob for plunder, and Israel to the robbers? Was it not the Lord, He against whom we have sinned? For they would not walk in His ways, Nor were they obedient to His law. 25 Therefore He has poured on him the fury of His anger And the strength of battle; It has set him on fire all around, Yet he did not know; And it burned him, Yet he did not take it to heart. The Redeemer of Israel 43 But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. 3 For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place. 4 Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, And people for your life. 5 Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, And gather you from the west; 6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!' And to the south, ‘Do not keep them back!' Bring My sons from afar, And My daughters from the ends of the earth— 7 Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.” 8 Bring out the blind people who have eyes, And the deaf who have ears. 9 Let all the nations be gathered together, And let the people be assembled. Who among them can declare this, And show us former things? Let them bring out their witnesses, that they may be justified; Or let them hear and say, “It is truth.” 10 “You are My witnesses,” says the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me. 11 I, even I, am the Lord, And besides Me there is no savior. 12 I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, And there was no foreign god among you; Therefore you are My witnesses,” Says the Lord, “that I am God. 13 Indeed before the day was, I am He; And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?” 14 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I will send to Babylon, And bring them all down as fugitives— The Chaldeans, who rejoice in their ships. 15 I am the Lord, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King.” 16 Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea And a path through the mighty waters, 17 Who brings forth the chariot and horse, The army and the power (They shall lie down together, they shall not rise; They are extinguished, they are quenched like a wick): 18 “Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. 19 Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert. 20 The beast of the field will honor Me, The jackals and the ostriches, Because I give waters in the wilderness And rivers in the desert, To give drink to My people, My chosen. 21 This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise. Pleading with Unfaithful Israel 22 “But you have not called upon Me, O Jacob; And you have been weary of Me, O Israel. 23 You have not brought Me the sheep for your burnt offerings, Nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices. I have not caused you to serve with grain offerings, Nor wearied you with incense. 24 You have bought Me no sweet cane with money, Nor have you satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices; But you have burdened Me with your sins, You have wearied Me with your iniquities. 25 “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins. 26 Put Me in remembrance; Let us contend together; State your case, that you may be acquitted. 27 Your first father sinned, And your mediators have transgressed against Me. 28 Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary; I will give Jacob to the curse, And Israel to reproaches. God's Blessing on Israel 44 “Yet hear now, O Jacob My servant, And Israel whom I have chosen. 2 Thus says the Lord who made you And formed you from the womb, who will help you: ‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant; And you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. 3 For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, And floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, And My blessing on your offspring; 4 They will spring up among the grass Like willows by the watercourses.' 5 One will say, ‘I am the Lord's'; Another will call himself by the name of Jacob; Another will write with his hand, ‘The Lord's,' And name himself by the name of Israel. There Is No Other God 6 “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God. 7 And who can proclaim as I do? Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me, Since I appointed the ancient people. And the things that are coming and shall come, Let them show these to them. 8 Do not fear, nor be afraid; Have I not told you from that time, and declared it? You are My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? Indeed there is no other Rock; I know not one.' ” Idolatry Is Foolishness 9 Those who make an image, all of them are useless, And their precious things shall not profit; They are their own witnesses; They neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed. 10 Who would form a god or mold an image That profits him nothing? 11 Surely all his companions would be ashamed; And the workmen, they are mere men. Let them all be gathered together, Let them stand up; Yet they shall fear, They shall be ashamed together. 12 The blacksmith with the tongs works one in the coals, Fashions it with hammers, And works it with the strength of his arms. Even so, he is hungry, and his strength fails; He drinks no water and is faint. 13 The craftsman stretches out his rule, He marks one out with chalk; He fashions it with a plane, He marks it out with the compass, And makes it like the figure of a man, According to the beauty of a man, that it may remain in the house. 14 He cuts down cedars for himself, And takes the cypress and the oak; He secures it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a pine, and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it shall be for a man to burn, For he will take some of it and warm himself; Yes, he kindles it and bakes bread; Indeed he makes a god and worships it; He makes it a carved image, and falls down to it. 16 He burns half of it in the fire; With this half he eats meat; He roasts a roast, and is satisfied. He even warms himself and says, “Ah! I am warm, I have seen the fire.” 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, His carved image. He falls down before it and worships it, Prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!” 18 They do not know nor understand; For He has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, And their hearts, so that they cannot understand. 19 And no one considers in his heart, Nor is there knowledge nor understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire, Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals; I have roasted meat and eaten it; And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” 20 He feeds on ashes; A deceived heart has turned him aside; And he cannot deliver his soul, Nor say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?” Israel Is Not Forgotten 21 “Remember these, O Jacob, And Israel, for you are My servant; I have formed you, you are My servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me! 22 I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, And like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.” 23 Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it! Shout, you lower parts of the earth; Break forth into singing, you mountains, O forest, and every tree in it! For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, And glorified Himself in Israel. Judah Will Be Restored 24 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, And He who formed you from the womb: “I am the Lord, who makes all things, Who stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself; 25 Who frustrates the signs of the babblers, And drives diviners mad; Who turns wise men backward, And makes their knowledge foolishness; 26 Who confirms the word of His servant, And performs the counsel of His messengers; Who says to Jerusalem, ‘You shall be inhabited,' To the cities of Judah, ‘You shall be built,' And I will raise up her waste places; 27 Who says to the deep, ‘Be dry! And I will dry up your rivers'; 28 Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd, And he shall perform all My pleasure, Saying to Jerusalem, “You shall be built,” And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.” ' Cyrus, God's Instrument 45 “Thus says the Lord to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held— To subdue nations before him And loose the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut: 2 ‘I will go before you And make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze And cut the bars of iron. 3 I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden riches of secret places, That you may know that I, the Lord, Who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel. 4 For Jacob My servant's sake, And Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me. 5 I am the Lord, and there is no other; There is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me, 6 That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting That there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; 7 I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things.' 8 “Rain down, you heavens, from above, And let the skies pour down righteousness; Let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation, And let righteousness spring up together. I, the Lord, have created it. 9 “Woe to him who strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?' Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands'? 10 Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What are you begetting?' Or to the woman, ‘What have you brought forth?' ” 11 Thus says the Lord, The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: “Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons; And concerning the work of My hands, you command Me. 12 I have made the earth, And created man on it. I—My hands—stretched out the heavens, And all their host I have commanded. 13 I have raised him up in righteousness, And I will direct all his ways; He shall build My city And let My exiles go free, Not for price nor reward,” Says the Lord of hosts. The Lord, the Only Savior 14 Thus says the Lord: “The labor of Egypt and merchandise of Cush And of the Sabeans, men of stature, Shall come over to you, and they shall be yours; They shall walk behind you, They shall come over in chains; And they shall bow down to you. They will make supplication to you, saying, ‘Surely God is in you, And there is no other; There is no other God.' ” 15 Truly You are God, who hide Yourself, O God of Israel, the Savior! 16 They shall be ashamed And also disgraced, all of them; They shall go in confusion together, Who are makers of idols. 17 But Israel shall be saved by the Lord With an everlasting salvation; You shall not be ashamed or disgraced Forever and ever. 18 For thus says the Lord, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: “I am the Lord, and there is no other. 19 I have not spoken in secret, In a dark place of the earth; I did not say to the seed of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in vain'; I, the Lord, speak righteousness, I declare things that are right. 20 “Assemble yourselves and come; Draw near together, You who have escaped from the nations. They have no knowledge, Who carry the wood of their carved image, And pray to a god that cannot save. 21 Tell and bring forth your case; Yes, let them take counsel together. Who has declared this from ancient time? Who has told it from that time? Have not I, the Lord? And there is no other God besides Me, A just God and a Savior; There is none besides Me. 22 “Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. 23 I have sworn by Myself; The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, And shall not return, That to Me every knee shall bow, Every tongue shall take an oath. 24 He shall say, ‘Surely in the Lord I have righteousness and strength. To Him men shall come, And all shall be ashamed Who are incensed against Him. 25 In the Lord all the descendants of Israel Shall be justified, and shall glory.' ”   Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrvkBVo1Cd4 Duration 35:38

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Most of us intuitively know that wisdom's a good thing. Sometimes we're full of it - wisdom that is … and sometimes, we're full of ourselves and that's when we come unstuck. So - where do we find the sort of wisdom that really makes a difference?   Wisdom Starts Here Hey, it's fantastic to be with you again this week. How quickly the weeks roll on by! And today I am really excited because we are kicking off a brand new series of messages called “Wisdom that Works”. Now, I don't know about you but I have done some pretty silly things in my life. We all make mistakes and the thing is that the mistakes have consequences. Sometimes those consequences are mildly annoying but other times, they are devastating. Sometimes we don't even notice some of the silly things that we're doing – they seem so trivial and yet we do them over and over and over and over and over again and the consequences compound and before we know it, we have a situation on our hands. Wisdom is about avoiding mistakes so that we can avoid the consequences. Wisdom is about taking the goodness and the experiences and the knowledge that others have developed and decide to apply in our lives so that we have a better life. Fewer mistakes, fewer consequences! And it's not just about avoiding mistakes, it's about knowing how to handle difficult situations. It's about knowing how to be proactive in making good things happen, rather than wallowing around in the consequences of repeated stupidities. In fact, there is a lot to be said for wisdom – the sort of wisdom that actually works. Okay, so exactly what is wisdom? I mean, intuitively, we know that wisdom is probably a good thing and most of us wouldn't mind having a bit more of it but have you ever stopped to think exactly what is it? Well, here's a dictionary definition: Wisdom is the quality of having experience, knowledge and good judgement and the soundness of action or decision by applying this experience and knowledge and good judgement. That's not bad! You boil that down and there are two parts to that. Firstly, knowing what to do and then doing it. Knowing what to do and then not doing it is pretty dumb and that's why I for one have done some dumb things in my life. Yes, sure, sometimes I didn't know what the right thing was to do, so I ran into a brick wall and it hurt and I learned that that particular thing doesn't work. Or perhaps, even better, I listened to someone else who had run into that brick wall before me and I learned from their experience. But sometimes, you know, we know the right thing, either because we just know – I mean, I know that it's wrong to rob a bank and I know that if I do, there are going to be some undesirable consequences – or because I have been down that road before or because I have listened to someone who has. So, sometimes we know the right thing to do – we have access to the knowledge but then we turn around and we don't do it. I know that drink driving is dangerous. I know that. Seen the road statistics lately? Seen the random breath testing stations on the road? Yea, so I have the knowledge, but if I get into that car, having had too much to drink and run over a pedestrian – you know, some people do that – then do I have wisdom? No, just the knowledge! For it to be wisdom you have to have the knowledge and then put it into action. Wisdom isn't just having the experience and the knowledge and the good judgement, wisdom is using it; acting on it; doing it; living it. Wisdom is only wisdom when it involves the knowledge and the doing. Does that make sense? Quite a few thousand years ago, King Solomon, King of Israel, David's son, was pretty much recognised as one of the wisest men on the planet. He had a few sons and so he decided to jot down some of that wisdom. We have access to that in the Book of Proverbs in the Old Testament and over these coming four weeks we are going to spend some time ransacking this Book for wisdom - getting as much of the proverbial Wisdom of Solomon as we can, so that we can put that to work in our lives. And that's the key: putting it to work. I can help by unlocking the treasure chest of wisdom, I can help even by encouraging you to put it to work but only you can make it happen in your life – only I can make it happen in my life. Remember this series is called “Wisdom that Works.” Okay, where do we find that wisdom? Where do we start? Well, let's start at the beginning of the Book of Proverbs, chapter 1 – the preamble; the introduction; the reason for wisdom. That's what it's all about. Proverbs chapter 1, beginning at verse 1: The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: For learning about wisdom and instruction, for understanding words of insight for gaining instruction in wise dealing, righteousness, justice, and equity; to teach shrewdness to the simple, knowledge and prudence to the young. Let the wise also hear and gain in learning, and the discerning acquire skill, to understand a proverb and a figure, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. Hear, my child, your father's instruction, and do not reject your mother's teaching; for they are a fair garland for your head, and pendants for your neck. Well, isn't that what we have just been talking about? It's about getting good wisdom into us and for it to have a good outcome. God's wisdom – the sort of wisdom that actually works. There is plenty of wisdom out there that purports to be real but it's fake; it's a ‘me' centred wisdom which will eventually come unstuck. Not a God-centred wisdom at all and that, my friends, is the starting point of wisdom – shifting our thoughts and our hearts away from the seductive slight-of-hand that passes for worldly wisdom and coming back to the source of real wisdom – the sort of wisdom that actually works. Have a listen again to what Solomon writes about where to find wisdom that works – Proverbs chapter 1, verse 7: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. And the meaning of that word ‘fear' in that context isn't just fear of the consequences of God's judgement if we are rebel against Him – and there is that and it will happen – but awe and respect and reverence. When I was a young lad, if I played up, I knew I would get a belting from my Dad – but much better to live in respect of my Dad, knowing of course, that a belting was in the offing if I mucked up – but living instead in a good respect for my father and avoiding the belting all together. See, there are two sides to that "fear" thing and it's when we finally decide to stick our pride in our pockets, to realise that all along, "I've been trying to do it my way and hey, you know what, it isn't working so brilliantly well. It isn't bringing me the joy and contentment and the satisfaction that I've been craving for." Admitting that and saying, "You know something, God? I have been wandering out there, trying to do it my way and it's not working. I can reject and despise Your wisdom and instruction and live with the consequences, God, or I can yield my life to You and do it Your way." And throughout the Book of Proverbs there is a contrast between the wise and the foolish, between good outcomes and bad outcomes. And that's what we are going to be exploring over these coming weeks on the programme. But the starting point is here: Proverbs chapter 1, verse 7: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. And the choice is yours for your life and mine for my life. Question is: which way will we choose?   Good Friends, Bad Friends Do you remember when you were growing up? You know when you were in those teenage years, your parents would tell you this or tell you that and we would just roll our eyes into the back of our heads, wouldn't we? "Don't hang out with the wrong crowd; be careful of the company you keep". "Yeh, yeh, yeh, right, what would they know – the oldies?" But it's really interesting in this Old Testament Book of Proverbs – thirty one chapters, packed, verse after verse with lots of wisdom. One of the very first things that Solomon talks to his sons about, in fact, the very first thing after talking to them about where to find wisdom - which is what we chatted about earlier - the very next thing is the crowd they hang around with. You know, maturity is an interesting thing. As we grow, we grow in our ability to discern what "good advice" is. Sometimes we reject people's advice because it is inappropriate or self-interested but what we are about to hear is some very good advice – some stunning advice, in fact and if we put this into action then it becomes wisdom. Now, any parent knows that if our kids keep bad company that doesn't auger well for their future because that bad company is a bad influence and it can be terribly, terribly destructive on our kids when they are growing up. And this is what Solomon has to say to these young me – his sons – about keeping bad company. Proverbs chapter 1, beginning at verse 10. He said: My child, if sinners entice you, do not consent. If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us wantonly ambush the innocent; like Sheol let us swallow them alive and whole, like those who go down to the Pit. We shall find all kinds of costly things; we shall fill our houses with booty. Throw in your lot amongst us; we will all have enough in the one purse”, my child, do not walk in their way, keep your foot from their paths; for their feet run to evil, and they hurry to shed blood. For in vain is the net baited while the bird is looking on; yet they lie in wait—to kill themselves! and set an ambush—for their own lives! Such is the end of all who are greedy for gain; it takes away the life of its possessors. Okay, hopefully most of us aren't murderers – hopefully most of us aren't going to go and lie in wait and mug someone and rob them but we kind of do that sometimes in life, through our behaviour and our attitudes and dishonesty and aggressively looking after our own interests above other peoples' interests. And it turns out that keeping bad company is different from being around bad people. You go to work, you go to church, you are a member of a club, you interact with people and some of them are great and some of them are fantastic – they're wonderful to be with – and some of them are downright awful. That's life! When we deal with people sometimes, we have to deal with those people and everything in between. But it's not whether we are around them or not, so much, it's a question of influence. Let's go back to what Solomon said – Proverbs chapter 1, verse 10: My child, if sinners entice you, do not consent … My child, do not walk in their way; keep you foot from their paths; for their feet run to evil and they hurry to shed blood. Look what Solomon says – he says, "Look don't be tempted by bad company or listen to them when they say, ‘Come on, let's gang up on someone and kill them, just for the fun of it." It's a question of whether we take their advice and go with them; whether we keep their company; whether we let them influence what we think, what we feel and ultimately, what we do. Here's the chain of events: they speak, we hear. Now, when we hear, we have a decision to make – we either accept or reject. And if we accept, it changes our behaviour and if it changes our behaviour, that has consequences – that's the important bit. When we hear, do we accept or reject? Do we rely on them or not? Do we trust them or don't we? Do we put our faith in them, to the extent that we let them change what we do? It's not that we are around bad people; it's not even that we hear them speak – that's not the problem. It's when we are tempted by them and when we allow them to change what we do. It's a question of influence. Bad company can discourage us; it can lead us to complaining; it can be disruptive; it can make us suspicious; it can make us envious; it can make us dishonest; it can make us violent. Bad company is an entry point of bad influence from other people and I have enough issues in my life to deal with without taking on bad stuff from other people. Now, at the end of the day, all of us want to live a good life. Sure, we want to be comfortable, we want to be happy but part of that is knowing that we are living a good life - that there's a goodness that we are reaping the fruit from and God comes to us here – this is stuff from Solomon, it's from the Bible. And we might go, ‘Aw, come on, it's three thousand years ago. Aw, it's from the Bible – it's not for me.' Come on, this is good advice! God is giving us Fatherly advice, born out of His love because whilst bad company may entice us into action that appears to give us a quick win, ultimately that bad influence ... ultimately that bad influence leads us to destruction. Listen again to the consequences – Proverbs chapter 1, verse 17: For in vain is the net baited while the bird is looking on; yet they lie in wait, ultimately to kill themselves – they set an ambush ultimately, for their own lives. Such is the end of all those who are greedy for gain – it takes away the life that it possesses. See, they think they are ambushing the other guy through their bad deeds but in fact, they are ambushing themselves. They want to kill the other guy but their evil desires are going to destroy them. Come on, who do you hang around with? Who are the people whom you allow to influence you and are any of those ruining your life with a bad influence? Because if they are, it's like drinking in poison from them – it's time to do something about it. Bad company drags us down – bad company has consequences and we are going to sit here and go, "Well, that's a nice story from Solomon, Berni," and we can ignore it but there will be consequences. Or we can take it on board; we can say, "You know what, this advice from God through the Book of Proverbs; from Solomon – this is great advice!" I never really thought of it that way. Do you know something: there are some changes I need to make about the people I hang around with?   The Value of Wisdom Now, the very next thing that Solomon talks about in the Book of Proverbs, after the beginning of wisdom and the impact of bad company, is the value of wisdom. Now, why do people make investments? Why do they take their hard earned money and buy shares in a company? Well, it's not for the fun of it so much – people make investments in order to reap a return. On the stock market, the price of a particular share goes up and it goes down, according to the market's perception of the return that they can make on their investment in that particular company. If the company has good prospects, the value goes up – if there are some bad returns, the value falls down. It's the way of the world! But it's not God's way – God has an investment that we can make in the good times that actually pays dividends in the tough times. In fact, that's the whole point of this particular investment. Intuitively we all know that wisdom is a good thing – we would all like so more of it and so you have to ask yourself, why is it that we are not all as wise as we can be? Why is it that we are not full to overflowing with the Wisdom of Solomon? Well, the answer is simple – because like any investment, wisdom requires a sacrifice up front. If I invest some of my hard earned cash in this company or that company on the stock market then the point is I have to use the money that I would have spent otherwise, for that investment. I have to make a sacrifice up front. It's locked away – the money – and hopefully it's locked away because it will earn me a good return. That's the concept of investing – sacrificing now so that we can benefit later on. It's the same with wisdom but the mistake that we can often make with wisdom is that we imagine that it's just about having the knowledge and the experience and the principles. I mean, all those are necessary but they don't become wisdom until we put them into action – until we live them out. That's when we demonstrate that we have wisdom – by living it. So, back to this question: why is it that we are not all living virtuous lives, reaping the harvest of our wisdom? Because we haven't bought into it! And when do we buy into a company? We do it when we think there is going to be a good return. The problem for most people is that they don't perceive a return on investment – the upfront sacrifice – when it comes to this precious commodity that they call "wisdom". So right now we are going to look at what accountants and economists call "ROI's" – return on investment. So let's dive into the Book of Proverbs; Solomon's advice to his young sons and let's see what it say about the ROI on our investment in wisdom. Proverbs chapter 1, beginning at verse 20: Wisdom cries out in the street; in the squares she raises her voice. At the busiest corner she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?  Give heed to my reproof; I will pour out my thoughts to you; I will make my words known to you. Because I have called and you refused, have stretched out my hand and no one heeded, and because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, I also will laugh at you in your calamity; I will mock when panic strikes you, when panic strikes you like a storm, and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, would have none of my counsel, and despised all my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way and be sated with their own devices. For waywardness kills the simple, and the complacency of fools destroys them; but those who listen to me, (says wisdom,) will be secure and will live at ease, without dread of disaster. I love the old Hebrew writings and the way they use picture language. And here we have this picture of wisdom as a person, calling out to us from the street corner in the middle of life, stretching out her hand – but everyone walks by and ignores her – they are too busy with life. Doesn't this just hit the nail right on the head? Earlier we looked at Solomon's advice to his sons about the company they keep – keep bad company and they will lead you astray and it will cost you a lot of pain. That's it in a nutshell! So times were good – his sons had a choice: listen to Dad; take his advice; turn away from the bad company or continue to hunt with that pack. Wisdom is something that so often comes to us when the times are good. When the economy is buoyant and returns are strong – she cries out to us; she stretches out her hand – invest in me! So we have a choice – we either go and invest; we act on the advice of God's wisdom; we live out that wisdom in the good times when it appears that we don't actually need the wisdom; when it appears that we don't need to make a sacrifice - we either do it then or we don't. And the whole point of wisdom is that we need to act on it in the good times in order to reap the reward in the bad times. Let me say that again: wisdom is the one investment we can make that delivers a dividend in the tough times. All the other investments come crashing down in the tough times but it's the dividend of wisdom that stands head and shoulders above the rest. Listen to what Solomon said again – Proverbs chapter 1, verse 32: For waywardness kills the simple and the complacency of fools destroys them but those who listen to me will be secure and will live at ease without dread of disaster. So wisdom either helps us to avoid the bad times - as in the case of the advice about keeping bad company - or when the bad times hit, which of course, they inevitably do in life. We don't want bad times to hit but they always do. Eventually the cycle turns and the bad times hit. And see, wisdom helps us in the bad times. It's like putting away some savings today so that we have some spare cash on a rainy day – bad choices in the good times inevitably lead to bad outcomes and bad consequences. Wise choices however, the sacrifices that we make in living out God's wisdom, pays dividends. It may not lead to perfect outcomes that we always planned but wisdom pays dividends. In fact, it pays huge dividends in tough times. This is wisdom that works! Wisdom cries out to us – God cries out to us, "Listen to Me – sacrifice the things I ask you to sacrifice and I will be with you there in the tough times; in the bad times because God's wisdom is wisdom that works."

Alt episode titles: Somewhere Over the Chase Bank, There is Community and Solidarity They Just Want Our Money, Not Our Pride: The Rainbow Capitalism Episode Intro Audio Excerpt: Sylvia Rivera (Rest in Power) interview from NYC Pride 2001 https://x.com/ben_0207/status/1800675695661842651 Who does rainbow capitalism benefit most? Who does it protect? What it is and what it is not Who gets seen in rainbow capitalism and who gets left out? What do we do without white cis het corporate crumbs? Will we be forced to rely and lean on each other, community, village and return pride to its roots as a riot, a protest? Rainbow capitalism is racism, facism, the anti-thesis to queer. It's not the queer celebrities making millions from marketing to and profiting from Black and Brown queer and trans folks on the margins that are going to save us, just US. If we are fighting for us to take back our resistance and liberation from the very apolitical, corporate, white pride structure. And we're fighting to liberate ourselves and to liberate one another, and we're doing so with a strong framework of solidarity, the question is not necessarily what's our responsibility, what's our response to anti-blackness, transphobia, cisheteronormativity, imperialist capitalism that attempts, with gusto, to pervade our movement and end our lives? The Origins of Pinkwashing and its connection to the apartheid state of Israel For a free list of recommended readings, materials and resources, visit www.patreon.com/ihartericka.com To purchase merch: https://ihartericka.com/shop/ Portion of the proceeds go to Celebration of Black Transwomen Cookout, Within Our Lifetime, Friends of the Congo and Hometax Sudan. Let's run it up for them. This episode is sponsored by Bookshop.org Find a local Black queer and/or trans owned bookstore near you: https://bookshop.org/pages/bookstores Editors note: the podcast about the genocide in Sudan I referenced is called, Society of Strife, NOT Society of Destruction.

Thursday, 9 May 2024   “And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. Acts 27:22   A literal rendering of the Greek would be, “And now, I admonish you to be cheerful, for there will be no off-casting of soul from you, except the ship” (CG).   Paul had just noted that those on the ship should have listened to him and stayed in Crete. By doing so, they would not have incurred the damage and loss that was now being experienced. Now, having set forth that his words are worth listening to, he will provide good news to the worn-out people before him, saying, “And now, I admonish you.”   Paul uses the same word, translated as “admonish,” that Luke used to describe Paul's words in verse 27:9 –   “And much time having elapsed, and the sailing being already dangerous – and the Fast already passed by – Paul admonished” (CG).   This is the second and last time the word is used in Scripture, paraineó. It means to exhort or advise. However, HELPS Word Studies notes that it is “to urge acknowledging what is praiseworthy, i.e. ‘recommend, advise, urge.'” It is an up close and personal form of admonishment.   One can see that when Luke penned Acts, he remembered Paul's word and used it in verse 27:9 when giving his narrative about what Paul would say now in verse 27:22. Luke's precision of recording events and even single words is highlighted in this. Next, Paul says for them, “to be cheerful.”   It is another new word in Scripture, euthumeó. HELPS Word Studies says it is used “to show positive passion as it proceeds from a sound disposition.” It will be used again in verse 27:25 and once in James 5:13.   The people were certainly disheartened and dejected of soul, having (as it said in verse 20) no hope of being saved. But Paul now tells them to have this positive passion and be cheerycherry in their disposition because, as he next says, “for there will be no off-casting of soul from you, except the ship.”   And, once again, Luke uses a new word, apobolé. It comes from two words meaning “away” and “cast.” Thus, “off-casting” is an exacting translation. This word is found only one more time, in Romans 11:15 when speaking of Israel –   “For if their being cast away [apobolé] is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?”   As for Paul's words to the people, the good news is that no person's soul would be cast away. Every person aboard would survive the ordeal. However, the bad news is that the ship would be lost. This then would mean that all of the cargo would be lost as well.   Those who owned and operated the ship would receive their lives as a prize, but nothing more. It is not unlike the word of the Lord spoken to Jeremiah's scribe, Baruch –   “The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at the instruction of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, 2 ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch: 3 “You said, ‘Woe is me now! For the Lord has added grief to my sorrow. I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest.'”' 4 ‘Thus you shall say to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, what I have built I will break down, and what I have planted I will pluck up, that is, this whole land. 5 And do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I will bring adversity on all flesh,' says the Lord. ‘But I will give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go.'”'” Jeremiah 45:1-5   Life application: For those who owned the ship and/or the cargo, the lesson is similar to that of verse 37:19. What value are the things of the world in comparison to life itself? If the ship were saved, but the owner was lost, it would mean nothing to the owner that the ship was saved.   And, like those on the ship, the Lord has said that He would lose none of those who would come to Him. Difficult times have come to many, but in the end, all will safely arrive on the promised shores of His safe haven.   Should you be facing great loss in some way, remember that this is a fallen world and that difficult times are inevitable. But God promises us something better. Hold fast to that thought should things get out of control. Wonderful times of rest are ahead for the weary soul.   Heavenly Father, may we hold fast to the sure promises that Your word has given us because of Jesus. No matter how good things are at any given moment, total loss or great sadness may be just around the corner. If we can remember to fix our eyes on Jesus now, then should such things come to pass, we will already have our attention focused properly. Help us in this, O God. Amen.

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Noah Efron and ubermensch writer Bradley Burston discuss two topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Hear the Extra-Special, Special Extra Segment on Patreon   —Despite It All, Peace?— Is all we are sayin', just give peace a chance? —Amalek— Is it like reverse anti-Semitism? —The End of Israel— For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: Kafka said, “A book must be an ice-axe for the frozen sea within us.” This one is. Order Bradley Burston's new book, The End of Israel: Dispatches from a Path to Catastrophe, here! Plus a glimpse into the worlds of ultra-Orthodox parents of kids who grew up ultra-Orthodox and were murdered at the druggy, dancy, free-lovey Nova festival.  Plus more music of our times.

Genesis 13:16 New American Standard Bible 1995 I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered. Genesis 15:5 New American Standard Bible 1995 And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” Genesis 22:17 New American Standard Bible 1995 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. Genesis 26:4 New American Standard Bible 1995 I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; Genesis 28:14 New American Standard Bible 1995 Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Genesis 32:12 New American Standard Bible 1995 For You said, ‘I will surely prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered.'” Exodus 32:13 New American Standard Bible 1995 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'” Deuteronomy 1:10 New American Standard Bible 1995 The Lord your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven in number. Deuteronomy 10:22 New American Standard Bible 1995 Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons in all, and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven. Deuteronomy 28:62 New American Standard Bible 1995 Then you shall be left few in number, whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, because you did not obey the Lord your God. 1 Chronicles 27:23 New American Standard Bible 1995 But David did not count those twenty years of age and under, because the Lord had said He would multiply Israel as the stars of heaven. 2 Chronicles 1:9 New American Standard Bible 1995 Now, O Lord God, Your promise to my father David is fulfilled, for You have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth. Psalm 89:29 New American Standard Bible 1995 “So I will establish his descendants forever And his throne as the days of heaven. Jeremiah 31:37 New American Standard Bible 1995 Thus says the Lord, “If the heavens above can be measured And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel For all that they have done,” declares the Lord. Jeremiah 33:22 New American Standard Bible 1995 As the host of heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.'” Hosea 1:10 New American Standard Bible 1995 Yet the number of the sons of Israel Will be like the sand of the sea, Which cannot be measured or numbered; And in the place Where it is said to them, “You are not My people,” It will be said to them, “You are the sons of the living God.” Nehemiah 9:23 New American Standard Bible 1995 “You made their sons numerous as the stars of heaven, And You brought them into the land Which You had told their fathers to enter and possess. Hebrews 11:12 New American Standard Bible 1995 Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maranatha-ministries/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maranatha-ministries/support

Introduction A new thing! Welcome to your daily devotional podcast anchored in Isaiah 43:19: 'See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.' I'm Malcolm Cox. Join me in January and February for a daily devotional podcast aimed at inspiring your personal times of quiet with God.  In the first few podcast episodes we will set the scene by looking at the entirety of Isaiah chapter 43. Today it is verses 14-17. “This is what the LORD says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I will send to Babylon and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians, in the ships in which they took pride.  I am the LORD, your Holy One, Israel's Creator, your King.”  This is what the LORD says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters,  who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:” (Isaiah 43:14-17 NIV11) - He will defeat all the enemies who oppress you - He guarantees deliverance: Because He is your Redeemer, the Holy One - He guarantees the defeat of Babylon     - The reason: He is the Lord, your Holy One, Creator, King     - The surety of judgment: He will utterly destroy the enemy— just as surely as He destroyed the Egyptian army in the Red Sea, Ex. 14:26–28 ““The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,  to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.”” (Luke 4:18-19 NIV11) For Reflection - What has God delivered you from, and what further deliverance do you hope for?  Please add your comments on this week's topic. We learn best when we learn in community. Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here's the email: malcolm@malcolmcox.org. If you'd like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org. Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review. Conclusion I hope you find your heart, your life, your congregation and your world inspired by God doing a new thing. Until tomorrow, take care, and God bless.  God bless, Malcolm "Carpe Diem" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Introduction A new thing! Welcome to your daily devotional podcast anchored in Isaiah 43:19: 'See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.' I'm Malcolm Cox. Join me in January and February for a daily devotional podcast aimed at inspiring your personal times of quiet with God.  In the first few podcast episodes we will set the scene by looking at the entirety of Isaiah chapter 43. Today it is verses 14-17. “This is what the LORD says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I will send to Babylon and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians, in the ships in which they took pride.  I am the LORD, your Holy One, Israel's Creator, your King.”  This is what the LORD says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters,  who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:” (Isaiah 43:14-17 NIV11) - He will defeat all the enemies who oppress you - He guarantees deliverance: Because He is your Redeemer, the Holy One - He guarantees the defeat of Babylon     - The reason: He is the Lord, your Holy One, Creator, King     - The surety of judgment: He will utterly destroy the enemy— just as surely as He destroyed the Egyptian army in the Red Sea, Ex. 14:26–28 ““The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,  to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.”” (Luke 4:18-19 NIV11) For Reflection - What has God delivered you from, and what further deliverance do you hope for?  Please add your comments on this week's topic. We learn best when we learn in community. Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here's the email: malcolm@malcolmcox.org. If you'd like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org. Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review. Conclusion I hope you find your heart, your life, your congregation and your world inspired by God doing a new thing. Until tomorrow, take care, and God bless.  God bless, Malcolm "Carpe Diem" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Quiet Time Coaching Episode 451 | New Thing Series — Part 6 | “Deliverer” | Malcolm Cox Introduction A new thing! Welcome to your daily devotional podcast anchored in Isaiah 43:19: 'See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.' I'm Malcolm Cox. Join me in January and February for a daily devotional podcast aimed at inspiring your personal times of quiet with God.  In the first few podcast episodes we will set the scene by looking at the entirety of Isaiah chapter 43. Today it is verses 14-17. “This is what the LORD says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I will send to Babylon and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians, in the ships in which they took pride.  I am the LORD, your Holy One, Israel's Creator, your King.”  This is what the LORD says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters,  who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:” (Isaiah 43:14-17 NIV11) - He will defeat all the enemies who oppress you - He guarantees deliverance: Because He is your Redeemer, the Holy One - He guarantees the defeat of Babylon     - The reason: He is the Lord, your Holy One, Creator, King     - The surety of judgment: He will utterly destroy the enemy— just as surely as He destroyed the Egyptian army in the Red Sea, Ex. 14:26–28 ““The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,  to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.”” (Luke 4:18-19 NIV11) For Reflection - What has God delivered you from, and what further deliverance do you hope for?  Please add your comments on this week's topic. We learn best when we learn in community. Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here's the email: malcolm@malcolmcox.org. If you'd like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org. Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review. Conclusion I hope you find your heart, your life, your congregation and your world inspired by God doing a new thing. Until tomorrow, take care, and God bless.  God bless, Malcolm "Carpe Diem" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: For learning about wisdom and instruction, for understanding words of insight, for gaining instruction in wise dealing, righteousness, justice, and equity; to teach shrewdness to the simple, knowledge and prudence to the young— Let the wise also hear and gain in learning, and the discerning acquire skill, to understand a proverb and a figure, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. Hear, my child, your father's instruction, and do not reject your mother's teaching; for they are a fair garland for your head, and pendants for your neck. My child, if sinners entice you, do not consent. If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us wantonly ambush the innocent; like Sheol let us swallow them alive and whole, like those who go down to the Pit. We shall find all kinds of costly things; we shall fill our houses with booty. Throw in your lot among us; we will all have one purse”— my child, do not walk in their way, keep your foot from their paths; for their feet run to evil, and they hurry to shed blood. For in vain is the net baited while the bird is looking on; yet they lie in wait—to kill themselves! and set an ambush—for their own lives! Such is the end of all who are greedy for gain; it takes away the life of its possessors. Wisdom cries out in the street; in the squares she raises her voice. At the busiest corner she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? Give heed to my reproof; I will pour out my thoughts to you; I will make my words known to you. Because I have called and you refused, have stretched out my hand and no one heeded, and because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when panic strikes you, when panic strikes you like a storm, and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, would have none of my counsel, and despised all my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way and be sated with their own devices. For waywardness kills the simple, and the complacency of fools destroys them; but those who listen to me will be secure and will live at ease, without dread of disaster. ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬-‭33‬ ‭NRSV‬‬. Simply Proverbs

Brit Ha'Leviot — a Good People Fund grantee in Israel — works to protect and promote the rights and well-being of trans and gender diverse youth and their families, and educate institutions like schools, and greater Israeli society. Co-Founder Merav Livni Keish speaks to GPF Executive Director Naomi Eisenberger about how the organization is adjusting … Continue reading Voices from Israel: For the Trans and Gender Diverse Community, Support through Crisis →

0:00 Intro 1:35 Interview with Dr. Francis Boyle 56:20 Right Side of History? - Will you be able to live with yourself if you are supporting war crimes and #genocide? - We support Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) - Dr. Francis Boyle: "Israel is committing Nazi war crimes" - full interview - Israel's war crimes bombing runs are KILLING CHRISTIANS, not merely Muslims - Why #Israel may not survive the course of events it is foolishly setting into motion - Alarming intel from #Lebanon about the intentions of #Hezbollah - Why Israel's fate is tied to the US #dollar - and the dollar is headed to ZERO - Why America's military might cannot protect Israel from the "sea of Arabs" that surround it - Victims of South Africa's #apartheid speak out against Israel's ethnic cleansing of Palestinians - Greek orthodox church in #Gaza BOMBED by Israel as Christians are wounded and killed - Israel threatens to bomb 20+ more hospitals - a WAR CRIME under UN conventions - Why "Zionist Neocon Warmongers" are determined to bring the world into a state of TOTAL WAR - If you care about Israel's existence, you must call for PEACE, not war - Those cheerleading for WAR are the real anti-Semites because their actions will result in the annihilation of #Israel For more updates, visit: http://www.brighteon.com/channel/hrreport NaturalNews videos would not be possible without you, as always we remain passionately dedicated to our mission of educating people all over the world on the subject of natural healing remedies and personal liberty (food freedom, medical freedom, the freedom of speech, etc.). Together, we're helping create a better world, with more honest food labeling, reduced chemical contamination, the avoidance of toxic heavy metals and vastly increased scientific transparency. ▶️ Every dollar you spend at the Health Ranger Store goes toward helping us achieve important science and content goals for humanity: https://www.healthrangerstore.com/ ▶️ Sign Up For Our Newsletter: https://www.naturalnews.com/Readerregistration.html ▶️ Brighteon: https://www.brighteon.com/channels/hrreport ▶️ Join Our Social Network: https://brighteon.social/@HealthRanger ▶️ Check In Stock Products at: https://PrepWithMike.com

“This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sakes I will send an army against Babylon, forcing the Babylonians to flee in those ships they are so proud of. I am the Lord, your Holy One, Israel's Creator and King. I am the Lord, who opened a way through the waters, making a dry path through the sea. I called forth the mighty army of Egypt with all its chariots and horses. I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned, their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick. “But forget all that— it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. The wild animals in the fields will thank me, the jackals and owls, too, for giving them water in the desert. Yes, I will make rivers in the dry wasteland so my chosen people can be refreshed.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭43‬:‭14‬-‭20‬ ‭NLT

Servants who may be Instances of God's Condescension, Chapter 21 of Eternal Lives Read Along: https://www.tumblr.com/fundamentallymormon/715052468121354240/servants-who-may-be-instances-of-gods YouTube: https://youtu.be/dRTkoVVppsQ David, King of Israel “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” (Psalms 16:10-11. How would David know that there is a fullness of joy at the right hand of God? Is David trying to tell us something about himself?) “For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.” (Psalms 86:13. Remember the Joseph Smith taught that: He (Christ) that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth; (Doctrine and Covenants 88:6.) How could God descend below all things unless he had been delivered from the lowest hell as David taught?)

1.    the receiving of the Law (Deut. 5:1–22), This would refer to (1) Moses' receiving the Law on Mt. Sinai (cf. Exod. 19–20)One of the chief criticisms of Paul by his Jewish countrymen seems to have been his alleged disregard for the law, since he taught that salvation was by grace through the atoning work of Christ and not by law-keeping. However, Paul does not discount the law's value. In fact, he has already affirmed its superlative value in Romans 3, where he first raised the matter of Jewish advantages. “What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew?” he asked. The answer: “Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God” (vv. 1–2). The phrase “the receiving of the law” means the same thing here.This extraordinary advantage was possessed by no other nation until the Christian era, when the gospel of God's grace in Christ and the books that taught it were deliberately taken to the entire world by the apostles and early missionaries in obedience to Christ's express command.[1]2.     the temple worship (latreia, “sacred service,” which may also include service in the tabernacle), David's developing the Temple service, and (2) possibly the Tabernacle of the Wilderness Wandering Period (cf. Exod. 25–40 and Leviticus).This phrase refers to the extensive set of regulations for the religious rituals to be practiced first at the tabernacle and then at the temple in Jerusalem. It involves the construction of the temple itself, the laws governing the various sacrifices, and the times of the year for and nature of the specified holy days of Israel.                                       The importance of these things is that they were designed to show the way in which a sinful human being could approach the thrice holy God. God must be approached by means of a blood sacrifice, which testified to the gravity of sin (“the wages of sin is death,” Rom. 6:23) and to the way in which an innocent substitute could die in the sinner's place. Eventually all such sacrifices, which were only figures of the ultimate and true sacrifice, were brought to completion and fulfilled by Jesus Christ.[1]Jer 31:35 Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (The LORD of hosts is His name): 36 "If those ordinances depart From before Me, says the LORD, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease From being a nation before Me forever." 37 Thus says the LORD: "If heaven above can be measured, And the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel For all that they have done, says the LORD.3.    and the promises (esp. of the coming Messiah). Since “the covenants” are mentioned earlier, “the promises” speak of those promises contained within the covenants and also refer to the Messiah (e.g. Gen. 3:15; 49:10; Deut. 18:15, 18–19; 2 Sam. 7; Ps. 16:10, 22; 118:22; Isa. 7:14; 9:6; 11:1–5; 53; Dan. 7:13, 27; Micah 5:2–5a; Zech. 2:6–13; 6:12–13; 9:9; 11:12.These promises (covenants) are both unconditional and conditional. They were unconditional as far as God's performance (cf. Gen. 15:12–21), but conditional on mankind's faith and obedience (cf. Gen. 15:6 and Rom. 4). Only Israel had God's self-revelation before the coming of Christ.[1]Ro 9:5 of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.V (5) Also the Israelites were in the line of promise from its beginning in 4.    the patriarchs (cf. Matt. 1:1–16;The “patriarchs” are the three fathers of the Jewish nation,

As the very last votes are still being counted, Miriam, Don and Noah try to make sense of the election results that will bring Benjamin Netanyahu back to the Prime Minister's office, and what they say about the heart and soul of the country, and what they do to our own hearts and souls. Hear the Extra-Special, Special Extra Segment on Patreon   —As the Dust Settles— What just happened? —The ״Battle for Israel״— For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: After the votes are counted, Haaretz prints an editorial enlisting us in the “Battle for Israel.”  But is that really what it's come to? All this and songs for pondering elections!

Sally Abed, Don Futterman and Noah Efron discuss two topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Hear the Extra-Special, Special Extra Segment on Patreon   —It Just Doesn't Matter?— Why do some people wake up on election morning with the feeling that it just doesn't matter who they vote for, or if they vote at all? —So Goes the Nation!— We got no secrets. Here's how we're voting. —״Blood: A Strong Occupation for Israel״— For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: The anti-Occupation NGO Breaking the Silence runs a faux election campaign for a faux party whose faux slogan is, “A Strong Occupation for Israel.” What do you do with that? All this and Moom Nadir, good ol' punk!

Isaiah 43:14-1914 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:“For your sake I send to Babylon and bring them all down as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.15 I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.”16 Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters,17 who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior;they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:18 “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.19 Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

  Born: 313 AD, Caesarea Maritima, Israel Died: March 18, 386 AD, Jerusalem, Israel For more on St. Cyril and his teachings Cyril of Jerusalem – Catechetical Lectures From Vatican.va, an excerpt from the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI  General Audience 2007: Taken as a whole, Cyril’s homilies form a systematic catechesis on the Christian’s ... Read more The post St. Cyril of Jerusalem – The Doctors of the Church w/ Dr. Matthew Bunson – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

The Receiving Of The Law (Deut. 5:1–22), This would refer to (1) Moses' receiving the Law on Mt. Sinai (cf. Exod. 19–20) One of the chief criticisms of Paul by his Jewish countrymen seems to have been his alleged disregard for the law, since he taught that salvation was by grace through the atoning work of Christ and not by law-keeping. However, Paul does not discount the law's value. In fact, he has already affirmed its superlative value in Romans 3, where he first raised the matter of Jewish advantages. “What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew?” he asked. The answer: “Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God” (vv. 1–2). The phrase “the receiving of the law” means the same thing here. This extraordinary advantage was possessed by no other nation until the Christian era, when the gospel of God's grace in Christ and the books that taught it were deliberately taken to the entire world by the apostles and early missionaries in obedience to Christ's express command.[1] the temple worship (latreia, “sacred service,” which may also include service in the tabernacle), David's developing the Temple service, and (2) possibly the Tabernacle of the Wilderness Wandering Period (cf. Exod. 25–40 and Leviticus). This phrase refers to the extensive set of regulations for the religious rituals to be practiced first at the tabernacle and then at the temple in Jerusalem. It involves the construction of the temple itself, the laws governing the various sacrifices, and the times of the year for and nature of the specified holy days of Israel.                                       The importance of these things is that they were designed to show the way in which a sinful human being could approach the thrice holy God. God must be approached by means of a blood sacrifice, which testified to the gravity of sin (“the wages of sin is death,” Rom. 6:23) and to the way in which an innocent substitute could die in the sinner's place. Eventually all such sacrifices, which were only figures of the ultimate and true sacrifice, were brought to completion and fulfilled by Jesus Christ.[1] Jer 31:35 Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (The LORD of hosts is His name): 36 "If those ordinances depart From before Me, says the LORD, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease From being a nation before Me forever." 37 Thus says the LORD: "If heaven above can be measured, And the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel For all that they have done, says the LORD. and the promises (esp. of the coming Messiah). Since “the covenants” are mentioned earlier, “the promises” speak of those promises contained within the covenants and also refer to the Messiah (e.g. Gen. 3:15; 49:10; Deut. 18:15, 18–19; 2 Sam. 7; Ps. 16:10, 22; 118:22; Isa. 7:14; 9:6; 11:1–5; 53; Dan. 7:13, 27; Micah 5:2–5a; Zech. 2:6–13; 6:12–13; 9:9; 11:12. These promises (covenants) are both unconditional and conditional. They were unconditional as far as God's performance (cf. Gen. 15:12–21), but conditional on mankind's faith and obedience (cf. Gen. 15:6 and Rom. 4). Only Israel had God's self-revelation before the coming of Christ.[1] Ro 9:5 of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen. V (5) Also the Israelites were in the line of promise from its beginning in the patriarchs (cf. Matt. 1:1–16; The “patriarchs” are the three fathers of the Jewish nation, namely, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, though in a looser sense such distinguished ancestors as Moses and David should also be included. These were all illustrious men to whom God revealed himself in special ways and through whom he worked to call out and bless his ancient people. To have such devout, saintly, and influential men in one's past is rightly regarded by Paul as a significant national distinction of which Jewish people could all justly be proud[1] Genesis 12–50 (cf. Rom. 11:28; Deut. 7:8; 10:15). “From whom is the Christ according to the flesh” This referred to the physical lineage of the Messiah, the Anointed One, God's special chosen servant who would accomplish God's promises and plans, (cf. 10:6). The term “Christ” is the Greek translation of the Hebrew “Anointed One.” In the OT, three groups of leaders were anointed with special holy oil (1) kings of Israel, (2) high priests of Israel, and (3) prophets of Israel. It was a symbol of God's choosing and equipping them for His service. Jesus fulfilled all three of these anointed offices (cf. Heb. 1:2–3). He is God's full revelation because He was God incarnate (cf. Isa. 7:14; 9:6; Micah 5:2–5a; Col. 1:13–20).[1] Ro 1:3 concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, to its fulfillment in the Messiah, The human ancestry of Christ. Everything Paul has said to this point would have been thoroughly echoed by his Jewish opponents, for they, too, regarded all these spiritual advantages highly, though they misunderstood and misused some of them. This is not the case with the last item Paul mentions, for they would have understood at once that Paul is referring here to Jesus of Nazareth, and they had no intention of recognizing Jesus as their national Messiah. Yet Paul cannot leave this matter out, if for no other reason than that everything he has mentioned thus far leads up to Jesus. This is not a random collection of items. There is actually a very close connection between these advantages, according to which each rightly leads to the one following and all lead to Christ. Adoption is the right starting point, for it places the source of salvation in God's electing grace, just as is the case also for believers in Christ. Having chosen to enter into a special relationship with his people, the next step was for God to reveal himself to them in a special way, which is what the word glory describes. God has done that for us in Christ, for he is where God's glory must be seen today (John 2:11; 2 Cor. 3:18). When God revealed himself to the people, as he did at Mount Sinai, it was to enter into special covenants or agreements with them, to give them the law by which they were to live, to show the way of salvation through the temple rituals, and to point forward the full realization of their spiritual inheritance when the Messiah should at last be revealed. The flow of God's actions reaches back to the patriarchs, with which it began, and forward to the coming of Jesus, in whom it culminates (v. 5). These verses are as full and reasoned a statement of the blessings of God to Israel and the spiritual advantages of Old Testament religion as could possibly be given. Israel truly lacked nothing. The nation was enriched with every spiritual blessing and advantage.[1]   Who is God over all, forever praised! Amen. This is a clear affirmation of the deity of Messiah.[1]. Paul does not use Theos for Jesus often, but he does use it (cf. Acts 20:28; Titus 2:13; Phil. 2:6). All the early church Fathers interpreted this text as referring to Jesus[1] This is a very striking statement. For Paul is not only saying that the Messiah was born of Israel, that is, that he was a Jew. He is also saying that this Jewish Messiah, born of Israel according to the flesh, is, in fact, God. And he is saying it in plain language. If we substitute the name Jesus for Christ, which we can do, since Paul is obviously writing about Jesus, we have the statement: “Jesus, who is God over all, forever praised!” Or, to simplify it even further, “Jesus … is God over all.”  The sentence means that Jesus is himself the only and most high God.  “Who is over all” This also could be a descriptive phrase for God the Father or Jesus the Son. It does reflect Jesus' statement of Matt. 28:19 and Paul's in Col. 1:15–20. This majestic phrase showed the height of Israel's folly in rejecting Jesus of Nazareth. Col 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. “Forever” This is literally the Greek vernacular phrase “unto the ages” (cf. Luke 1:33; Rom. 1:25; 11:36; Gal. 1:5; 1 Tim. 1:17).[1] We have to admit at this point that there is an obvious restraint among the New Testament writers to say starkly that “Jesus is God.” And for good reason. Without explanation, a statement like this might be understood as teaching that God left heaven in order to come to earth in the person of the human Jesus, leaving heaven without his presence. Each of the New Testament writers knew that this is not an accurate picture. Each was aware of the doctrine of the Trinity, according to which God is described as being one God but existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Since Jesus is the Son of God, it was customary for them to call him that, rather than simply “God,” reserving the unembellished word God for God the Father. This is why Jesus is not often called God explicitly. Yet, although it is unusual to find Jesus called God for the reasons just given, it is not the case that he is never called God. At the very beginning of that, Gospel of John writes: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning” (vv. 1–2, emphasis added). A bit later, “the Word” is identified as Jesus (v. 14), so the text says that Jesus is God. True, the verses are written so as to distinguish the persons of the Father and Son within the Trinity. But they nevertheless identify Jesus as God explicitly. Later in John's Gospel, we find the same thing in Thomas's great confession, which is the Gospel's spiritual climax. “Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!' ” (John 20:28). Acts 20:28 is another important passage. Here Paul is speaking to elders of the church at Ephesus, telling them to, “be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.” The blood that was the price of our redemption is the blood of Christ, but here it is called the blood of God. The only way Paul could make this identification is by thinking of Christ as being God so directly and naturally, that what he posits of one can without any forcefulness be said of the other. Hebrews 1:8 calls Jesus “God” by applying Psalm 45:6–7 to him: “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever. …” The best example of an identification of Jesus with God in Paul's writings, apart from our text, is Titus 2:13–14, where Paul writes, “We wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. …” Apart from the context, the words God and Savior could mean only “God the Father and God the Son.” But since Paul is writing of the second coming and sudden appearance of Jesus, both words must refer to him, for it is not God the Father who is going to appear suddenly but rather “our great God and Savior,” who is Jesus. Therefore, it is not true that Paul never identifies Jesus with God explicitly. He does, as do other New Testament writers, in spite of the discretion and care with which they usually write. However, even if it were the case that Paul nowhere else explicitly identifies Jesus as God, that fact alone does not prove that he cannot do it here—which, in fact, he does. I like what John Calvin says of the attempt to separate God from Christ by splitting up the text in the way I have described. He writes wisely, “To separate this clause from the rest of the context for the purpose of depriving Christ of this clear witness to his divinity is a bold attempt to create darkness where there is full light.” Even better is the judgment of Robert Haldane: “The Scriptures have many real difficulties, which are calculated to try or to increase the faith and patience of the Christian, and are evidently designed to enlarge his acquaintance with the Word of God by obliging him more diligently to search into them [sic] and place his dependence on the Spirit of truth. But when language as clear as in the present passage is perverted to avoid recognizing the obvious truth contained in the divine testimony, it more fully manifests the depravity of human nature and the rooted enmity of the carnal mind against God, than the grossest works of the flesh.” Like many other commentators and Bible teachers, I find Romans 9:5 to be one of the most beautiful testimonies to the full deity of the Lord Jesus Christ in the entire Bible. Lessons To whom much is given, much is required Lu 12:46 "the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. 47 "And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 "But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more. To be saved, you have to believe that Jesus is God and in Him only can you be saved Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today. “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32 Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.  hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en Don't go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions

But now, this is what the Lord says—    he who created you, Jacob,    he who formed you, Israel:“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead.4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you,nations in exchange for your life.5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west.6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!' and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.' Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”8 Lead out those who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are deaf.9 All the nations gather together and the peoples assemble. Which of their gods foretold this and proclaimed to us the former things? Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right, so that others may hear and say, “It is true.”10 “You are my witnesses, declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen,so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.11 I, even I, am the Lord,    and apart from me there is no savior.12 I have revealed and saved and proclaimed— I, and not some foreign god among you.You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “that I am God.13     Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?”God's Mercy and Israel's Unfaithfulness14 This is what the Lord says—    your Redeemer, the Holy One  of Israel: “For your sake I will send to Babylon and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians, in the ships in which they took pride.15 I am the Lord,  your Holy One, Israel's Creator, your King.16 This is what the Lord says—    he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters,17 who drew out the chariots and horses,  the army and reinforcements together,and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick.18 “Forget the former things;    do not dwell on the past.19 See, I am doing a new thing!    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?.I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.20 The wild animals honor me,    the jackals and the owls,because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen,21     the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.22 “Yet you have not called on me, Jacob, you have not wearied yourselves for me, Israel.23 You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings, nor honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with grain offerings nor wearied you with demands for incense.24 You have not bought any fragrant calamus for me, or lavished on me the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins    and wearied me with your offenses.25 “I, even I, am he who blots out    your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.26 Review the past for me,    let us argue the matter together;  state the case for your innocence.27 Your first father sinned;    those I sent to teach you rebelled against me.28 So I disgraced the dignitaries of your temple; I consigned Jacob to destruction and Israel to scorn.

Isaiah 43 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. 1 But now, O Jacob, listen to the LORD who created you. O Israel, the one who formed you says, “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. 2 When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. 3 For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I gave Egypt as a ransom for your freedom; I gave Ethiopia and Seba in your place. 4 Others were given in exchange for you. I traded their lives for yours because you are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you. 5 “Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will gather you and your children from east and west. 6 I will say to the north and south, ‘Bring my sons and daughters back to Israel from the distant corners of the earth. 7 Bring all who claim me as their God, for I have made them for my glory. It was I who created them.'” 8 Bring out the people who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are deaf. 9 Gather the nations together! Assemble the peoples of the world! Which of their idols has ever foretold such things? Which can predict what will happen tomorrow? Where are the witnesses of such predictions? Who can verify that they spoke the truth? 10 “But you are my witnesses, O Israel!” says the LORD . “You are my servant. You have been chosen to know me, believe in me, and understand that I alone am God. There is no other God— there never has been, and there never will be. 11 I, yes I, am the LORD, and there is no other Savior. 12 First I predicted your rescue, then I saved you and proclaimed it to the world. No foreign god has ever done this. You are witnesses that I am the only God,” says the LORD . 13 “From eternity to eternity I am God. No one can snatch anyone out of my hand. No one can undo what I have done.” 14 This is what the LORD says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sakes I will send an army against Babylon, forcing the Babylonians to flee in those ships they are so proud of. 15 I am the LORD, your Holy One, Israel's Creator and King. 16 I am the LORD, who opened a way through the waters, making a dry path through the sea. 17 I called forth the mighty army of Egypt with all its chariots and horses. I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned, their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick. 18 “But forget all that— it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. 19 For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. 20 The wild animals in the fields will thank me, the jackals and owls, too, for giving them water in the desert. Yes, I will make rivers in the dry wasteland so my chosen people can be refreshed. 21 I have made Israel for myself, and they will someday honor me before the whole world. 22 “But, dear family of Jacob, you refuse to ask for my help. You have grown tired of me, O Israel! 23 You have not brought me sheep or goats for burnt offerings. You have not honored me with sacrifices, though I have not burdened and wearied you with requests for grain offerings and frankincense. [...]

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Don Futterman and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Hear the Extra-Special, Special Extra Segment on Patreon   —Face the Nation-State— Israel's Supreme Court votes 10 to 1 to let the controversial “Nation-State Law” stay on the books. Could both the 10 and the 1 be right at the same time? —Sins of the Fathers— Toddler's whose fathers study full-time in Yeshivas just lost their day-care subsidies. Should tots suffer because dads don't work? —Is a Dream a Lie if It Don't Come True, or Is It Somethin' Worse— Ten years ago this week, Israel was rocked by the biggest protests in the country's history. Did they make any difference? —The State of Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Migrant Workers in Israel— For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion, we talk with Julie Fisher, the founder and director of the Consortium for Israel & the Asylum Seekers, about the state of asylum seekers, refugees and migrant workers in the age of Corona, in Tel Aviv, and Israel in general. All that and the strange and uncategorizable charm of Onili!

This Sunday evening sermon was originally delivered on March 4, 2001, and released on Two Journeys on July 4, 2021. sermon transcript Open your Bibles and turn to 1 Corinthians 1. We're beginning a series tonight in the Book of Proverbs, and we're starting therefore in 1 Corinthians 1. Does that make sense? Now, you may wonder, "What in the world does 1 Corinthians 1 have to do with Proverbs?" But it has everything to do with Proverbs. The common theme is wisdom. We're gonna be talking tonight about wisdom, and I wanna start at the center of our wisdom, and that is Jesus Christ, Himself. The Apostle Paul made a statement in 1 Corinthians 1:22, and he said there, "Jews demand miraculous signs, and Greeks look for wisdom." Wisdom. I think we're very Greek people. I really think that we are in love with what the human mind can achieve and accomplish. We're in love with our own technology, with our achievements, with our ability to reason things out and think things through. We have think tanks and experts, and for any problem, any time that there's a dispute or a difficulty, there's never a shortage of experts to come in and give us some insight from all their study and some wisdom. And so, we are, I think, in this sense, very much like the Greeks of old, when Paul said that Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom. The Greeks were full of famous philosophers. Can you think of some Greek philosophers that were... Socrates, Aristotle. That's right. Plato, perhaps the most famous. Many others, Pythagoras. I bet you didn't realize that he was a philosopher, but he really was, in addition to the Pythagorean theorem. I'm sure you all remember what the Pythagorean theorem was. That's right. A squared plus B squared equals C squared. Yes, and that's exciting, but Mr. Pythagoras did other things besides that, and he was a Greek philosopher. Democritus, Parmenides and others. There are famous Greek philosophers, and there were schools of Greek philosophy throughout the history of Athens and Greece. Atomism, for example, the idea that all of matter is made up of little particles called atoms. That sound familiar? Now, the Greeks were the first ones that thought that up. And Epicureanism, Platonism, realism, stoicism, hedonism. That's a big favor today. Life is about pleasure. Let's eat and drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. That's Greek philosophy. But it's interesting, a statement that Paul makes here in 1 Corinthians, and look at it in verse 21. 1 Corinthians 1:21. Let's begin at verse 20. It says, "Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe." Now, that's an amazing statement he makes there. The Greeks were looking for wisdom, they were looking for God as well. Plato had statements about God and they were trying to find him through their intellectual achievements, but the amazing thing about the statement is that it was the wisdom of God that they could never find him that way. You can't find God that way. By thinking deeply and meditating about the world and about yourself, and working through axioms of truth. You're never gonna find God that way. And it's wisdom from God that you can't find God that way. In the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not know him. But a simple slave, or a common man or woman who hears and believes the gospel of Jesus Christ, they have the wisdom of God. Isn't that amazing? He says later, "We have the mind of Christ." We have the mind of Christ. We have the true wisdom. Paul says in Romans 11, one of my favorite passages, he says, "Oh, the depth of the riches, the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments and his paths beyond tracing out. Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?" Think about that. Who's gonna be chief counsel or giver to God? His right hand man, to give him some advice when he needs it. He calls him in, 'I'm having a little trouble with creation, I'm trying to work through this DNA thing, and I've kind of lost my way a little bit. Help me out here.' Who's gonna be God's counselor? Who's gonna give him some advice and some wisdom? Does he need one? No, his wisdom is infinite, it's unsearchable. It's unsearchable. I always think about the unsearchable wisdom of God in terms of plumbing the depths of the ocean, and thinking about the amount of string you have in your pocket and tying it up to a rock and just keep going and going and keep adding other pieces of string and it goes deeper and deeper, and you ask your buddies or some other people for some string and it just keeps going. You'll never plumb the depths. That's the wisdom of God, it's unsearchable, it's deep, the wisdom of God. And the Greeks weren't gonna find it simply by thinking a lot and by talking to one another. In verse 25 of 1 Corinthians 1, he says, "There's no true wisdom apart from God." It says, "The foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." Isn't that wonderful? God's foolish moments is wiser than our best moment. Does God have any foolish moments? No. What is Paul doing here? He's really speaking tongue-in-cheek, and you know why? Because he went and preached the gospel to the philosophers, and they said it was foolishness. Utter foolishness. The idea of a Jewish carpenter, dead on the cross, put into a tomb and risen from the dead on the third day, what is that? That's utter foolishness. And so he says, "Okay, foolishness. But the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom." Wiser than man's wisdom. Christ is our wisdom, isn't He? Look at verse 30, 1 Corinthians 1:30. "It is because of him... " Actually, I can't do this unless I read the whole section. Verse 26, "Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you are wise by human standards, not many were influential, not many were of noble birth, but God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world, and the despised things, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus." You could meditate on that for years. Just that one sentence. "It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus." Think about that. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us, what? Wisdom from God. Our wisdom is Jesus Christ. He is our wisdom. He has become for us wisdom from God, that is our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, Let him who boasts boast in the Lord. And so God is our wisdom. Jesus Christ is our wisdom, and we're going to be skating across perhaps the surface of Proverbs, there's no way we're gonna go verse by verse through 31 chapters of Proverbs. But Proverbs lends itself very well to a topical study, doesn't it? You really don't know why Proverbs 22:17 follows Proverbs 22:16. And so what we can do is go topically or thematically through and draw them out, and try to understand some wisdom from God. But I wanted to start here so that you would know the ultimate wisdom of God is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It's the cross of Jesus Christ and the empty tomb. That is the wisdom of God, and we have the pleasure of having that wisdom if we've simply believed the gospel of Jesus Christ. You're as wise as you need to be. Isn't that wonderful? So stop studying! What else is there to learn? You know everything! Is that true? Well, no, there's some practical wisdom that we need, isn't it? And that is because sin has deep roots in our lives, it affects everything we do, and we need some expulsive wisdom, don't we? To get in there and start adjusting the way we think about some things. Yes, we've been saved. We acknowledge that we're sinners, we acknowledge that we needed a savior, we acknowledge that we needed Jesus Christ, but we still have some problems, don't we? Are you all done being saved? Well, you're done being justified. The moment you trusted in Jesus Christ, you were justified, right? If you're a believer, that's finished once for all, but are you done being saved? No, according to Paul, he says, "Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed." So our salvation is still being worked out, and it's yet to come, on judgment day we'll be saved. There's a whole salvation package, and part of that is a daily practical wisdom from God, isn't it? And I don't think you're gonna find it any better than in the Book of Proverbs. Proverbs deals with some issues, doesn't it? How do we deal with our money? Or, how do we raise our children? Or, how can we have a good marriage? How can we be a good employee? How can we look at life rightly? That's the wisdom of Proverbs, and I think we need it. But I think before we go on, I wanna remind you of a verse I spoke about this morning. Where does wisdom come from? If you lack wisdom, what should you do? You should ask God. How is it that we keep coming again and again to a simple theme that we need to be spiritual beggars? Again and again and again, "Blessed are the poor in spirit," spiritual beggars, "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." If you want anything, simply ask God. James 1:5, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God. And He gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given." And do you know what he might do? He might direct you to the Scripture. "Read it," He might say. "Read the instruction book, and there's some wisdom in there for you." Now, who wrote the Book of Proverbs? Other than God, of course, we know that it's inspired by God, but humanly speaking, who wrote Proverbs? That's right, Solomon. Turn to Proverbs 1:1, and He tells us right off who wrote it. Proverbs 1:1, and it says there, "The Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel." So that solves it. Now, we know that in the Book of Proverbs, there are some sayings from other wise men, and we'll get to that later on. But in general, most of the Proverbs in the 31 chapters were written by Solomon, are inspired by Solomon. Now, where did Solomon get his wisdom? Well, he got it from God. And you remember the story, Solomon was young and inexperienced, and he was having a dream, and in that dream, God came to him and said, "Ask for anything you want and it'll be given to you." What would you ask for? I've talked to others before about that. If you had that carte blanche, that blank check with God's signature at the bottom, what would you ask for? Seriously, what would you ask for? Godly heart, that's a good one. Other thoughts? What would you ask for? If you were in Solomon's place, what would you ask for? To know God. Now, this is eternal life that they may know you, the only true God. So you want eternal life, Bob, it sounds like. Alright, something else? What would you ask for? Okay, all your loved ones that they might be saved. Paul says, "My heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved." Yearning and a hunger for that, alright. That you might be active and available to God the rest of your life in spreading the gospel, that would be a wonderful thing to ask for. How about, I'd like to be in heaven now? [chuckle] Okay, yeah. I remember when I was a child and reading those Aladdin lamp stories, and it's like, if you get three wishes, what would you wish for? Wish for infinite wishes, that kind of thing. Well, you can't trick him with that. I think that might be wonderful to say, "God, I like the wisdom to answer the question. I don't know what I should ask for. Doesn't the Scripture say that? We don't know what to pray for." That's right. Be careful what you wish for, you may get it. Frankly, all of these answers that I'm getting have been instructed by the Scriptures, haven't they? We've been told to ask or yearn for a godly heart or eternal life, or that your friends may be saved, etcetera. These are coming right up out of the wisdom of God, the Scriptures themselves. I'm glad to hear that none of you said, "Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz?" Ah, that's encouraging. And there are these moments that have gladdened the heart of a pastor, and that was big, and I appreciate that. But Solomon asked for wisdom, and I think he felt it acutely, didn't he? Why would Solomon be yearning for wisdom at that particular moment in his life? Yeah, it's a big job to be king. And he's a young man, he's inexperienced, he's got the humility to be a beggar there, doesn't he? To say, "I don't know what to do, I don't know how to be a king." And I'll tell you something, I have thought about it many times as a pastor in the last couple of years, as a matter of fact. I don't know how to be a pastor, I don't know how to be your pastor. There's no shame in that. I'll tell you, I'm young and inexperienced, I've come to God numerous times on my knees and say, "What do you want me to do? I don't know how to go. Give me wisdom." Why would God forsake that kind of prayer? That's James 1:5, He said, he'll give it generously to anyone who asks, and there's a certain confidence in knowing you can go to God any time with an open heart, as long as you're willing to do anything He says, to hear anything he might say, He's gonna give you that wisdom. But that's what King Solomon did, and God gave him incredible wisdom. You see, this is the way God is. He doesn't give a little, okay? He's gonna lavish wisdom on Solomon more than anyone that had ever lived before or has ever lived since, save one, Jesus Christ, we'll get to that. But Solomon was lavished with the gift of wisdom. Incredible wisdom. Now, what is wisdom? A little while ago, we bought an 1828 Webster Dictionary. Now, why is the 1828 version important? Well, Noah Webster was a Christian, and almost all of his definitions of words have some Bible quote in them, it's an incredible thing. So you're reading through, and that's a great book to look up the definition of wisdom, and he did a great job. Noah Webster in 1828, wisdom in terms of an act, or effect, or practice, listen to this, is the right use and exercise of knowledge, the choice of laudable ends, that means good ends or praisable ends, and the best means to accomplish them. In other words, to know where is a good place to go and then to know what's the best way to get there, that's wisdom. To know where it is you wanna drive to, and then what's the shortest route to get there are the best route. Well, that's the definition, that's an act, effect, or practice. Also is a faculty of the mind, Noah Webster tells us, wisdom is the faculty of discerning or judging what is most just, proper, and useful. There's a real moral side to these definitions. Have you noticed? What is righteous, what is just, and what is best and useful, that's the ability of the mind to discern those things. Also as an acquirement, something you can gain, wisdom is the knowledge and use of what is best, most just, most proper, most conducive to prosperity and happiness. You can become a wise man or a wise woman by immersing yourself in Scripture under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. You can discern what is best, discern what is just and right, and not only that, but how to bring it about, what's the best way to perceive. That is God's gift. Practical wisdom is discretion. Now, prudence, for example, is a form of wisdom according to Noah Webster. Prudence is the exercise of sound judgment in avoiding evils. I like that. The exercise of sound judgment and avoiding pitfalls and trouble, avoiding evils. He says it's a subset of wisdom. Wisdom is the exercise of sound judgement in either avoiding evils or attempting good. Both. So that's wisdom. Thank you, Noah Webster. But I think in best, we see wisdom lived out in daily life, don't we? If you know a wise man or woman, you just watch how they live. How do they organize their affairs? What do they do with their checkbook? How do they organize their time? How do they administer their office? Let's say. How do they train their children? How do they organize their affairs? It's best seen in everyday life, and thus I believe in the Christian church, mentoring is crucial, don't you think? To have a wise man, if you're a man or a woman, if you're a woman, who can just show you how to live in everyday life. Practical wisdom comes from experience, walking with Jesus through things. That's why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:1, "Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ." As we go through the Book of Proverbs, we're gonna have two very helpful tutors or mentors. One of them is the wise man, and what's his counterpart? He's very much instructive as well. The fool. That's right, we're gonna learn a lot from both, aren't we? The wise man is gonna teach us some things and the fool is gonna teach us some things, and we're gonna learn from both. Sometimes they appear, both of them, in one proverb. Wise man does this, the fool does that. And so, we're gonna learn by contrast and by comparison. What is a wise life in practical situations. We're gonna see the wise and the fool in various settings. For example, Proverbs 12:15, "The way of the fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice." Alright, what is that teaching about a fool? "I don't need to hear anything from anybody, I've got this thing scoped, got it figured out. I don't need anything from anybody." What does a wise man say? "Do you have any words of wisdom for me? I could use some advice here." You see what I'm saying? So we learn right away from our tutors: The wise man and the fool on the issue of taking advice. Proverbs 12:16, the very next one, "A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult." Well, what does the wise man teaching a prudent man? Overlooking insult. Don't take it to heart. Alright, but what does the fool teaches? As soon as somebody irritates you, say something about it, show in a flash of anger, demonstration of power. We live in a foolish age, don't we? We live in a very angry age. As soon as somebody insults or crosses you, we're gonna show it. Well, Book of Proverbs has dealt with that thousands of years ago. 'A wise man overlooks an insult, but a fool shows annoyance at once." Or Proverbs 12:23, "A prudent man keeps his knowledge to himself, but the heart of fools blurts out folly." So a wise person tends to be kinda quiet, they don't say as much, kinda keep their wisdom to themselves until it's needed. But a fool blurts out his folly as soon as he thinks of something to say. Or this one? Proverbs 15:19, "The way of the sluggard," we're gonna be meeting the sluggard. What's another word for sluggard? Yeah, a lazy person. That's right. A lazy person. "The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway." In other words, a lazy person who doesn't do his business and get his things done has a difficult life, a hard life, there's always trouble, there's always difficulties. But a wise man is like a paved road, when you get your things done on time, etcetera. So it's a case study of everyday life. What is wisdom like? And what is it not like? Now, Solomon's greatest exports in his kingdom was wisdom. Do you know that? That's what they exported. People came from around the world to listen to Solomon. The Queen of the South, for example, came and she brought her whole retinue and they brought all kinds of stuff, gold and silver and rare woods and spices and all that, and they traded it all for what? Some words of wisdom. Just some advice, just to be able to sit and listen to Solomon. And Solomon was amazing, it said in 1 Kings 4, "God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. Solomon's wisdom was greater than all the wisdom of the East, the men of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than any other man, and his fame spread to the surrounding nations. He spoke... " Get this, "3000 proverbs." We have just a sampling of his wisdom here, 3000 proverbs and songs numbered a thousand and five. So he was a composer. He described plant life from the cedar that grows in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the walls. He also taught about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. Men of all nations came to listen to Solomon's wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world who had heard of his wisdom. So people from all around came to listen to Solomon, and we get to sit at his feet and listen to him too, don't we? We get to listen to his wisdom, as written in the Book of Proverbs. The Queen of the South, Queen of Sheba, came to listen to Solomon's wisdom. This is what she said, "The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true, but I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told to me. In wisdom and wealth, you have far exceeded the report I heard. How happy your men must be, how happy your officials who continually stand before you to hear your wisdom." So that's amazing. God, as I said, gave lavishly to Solomon. But later on, another one would come, a descendant of Solomon, through his father, Joseph. And it was Jesus Christ. And you remember what Jesus said about Solomon? He said, "The Queen of the South," this is Matthew 12:42, "came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now One greater than Solomon is here." One greater than Solomon is here. Jesus Christ's wisdom far exceeds that of Solomon. Solomon described plant life, cedars and hyssop, Jesus designed them. Think about that. Solomon observed the mating rituals of certain kinds of fish perhaps, or animals, categorized them into categories, Jesus created them and sustained them. That is the wisdom of Jesus Christ. And by the way, you have Jesus Christ living within you. You have the mind of Christ. Isn't that amazing? Stop and think that someday your wisdom and your knowledge of God will far exceed the head of Solomon, when you've seen Jesus face to face, and you know as fully as you are fully known. Now, let's look for the first seven verses of Proverbs, and we're gonna just work our way through these, and that'll set us up for our future study. Proverbs 1:1, we've already read. "The proverbs of Solomon son of David, King of Israel: For attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, for doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young, let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance, for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. But fools despise wisdom and discipline." Now, as you look through these seven verses, he tells you at the beginning why he's written these down, what are the Proverbs for. And listen to what he says, "Therefore, attaining wisdom and discipline." What is discipline? In a moment, he's gonna talk about attaining or acquiring a wise and disciplined life. What does that mean? Discipline. Okay, using your time well, resources well. Go. Self-control. Okay, other thoughts on discipline? Teaching, okay. I think it's really related to the word disciple. There's a close relationship between discipleship and discipline. Self-control is a big theme. How many of you feel that... Say again. Okay, obedience and submission to God's leading in your life, okay. That would be good. I think what Max said in terms of stewardship, there's a sense in which God has given us these resources and we're supposed to be wise and disciplined stewards of them. We're supposed to know what they are and how to use them best. And so, how many of you feel that you would like to grow in self-discipline? Okay, one or two of you. And for the rest, it speaks of you because it says, Let the wise hear and increase in their learning. So all of those of you who have reached that level of self-discipline that you would like, you can continue and increase your learning. The thing is that the Book of Proverbs is written, no matter what your level of discipleship. Look what it says, it says, "For acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair. Giving prudence to the simple." What does that mean? Simple. He is simple. What is a simple person? Right, not proud. Calmer, say again. Naive, right? Or could we say a beginner in the journey of wisdom? Naive, just starting. Okay, you're just a beginner when it comes to wisdom. Well, this book's for you. It's for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young. So there's a parallel there, between simple and young, but then also in verse 5, "Let the wise listen and add to their learning." We're never finished, are we? Some of you have been alive for many, many more years than I have, and your gray hair testifies to the years you've been alive, and you've experienced things that younger people have not experienced, but are you done learning? Are you finished? Not at all. And so there's a practical wisdom still waiting for you in this book. "Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance." That's a beautiful word, isn't it? I like to think in my life of the way of wisdom. There's a way, a path in front of us, isn't there? And sometimes it's hard to see, it's hard to know what direction to go. We need wisdom, we need guidance, and we must learn to turn to Scripture, and the Book of Proverbs, gives us some very practical wisdom and guidance for that journey, the way of wisdom. And then he says, "for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise," so you're gonna understand some things that you wouldn't have understood without studying. And then comes the motto for the entire book, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." The fear of the Lord. What do you think of when you think of the fear of the Lord? What does that mean? The fear of the Lord. Respect, okay. A common word would be awe. People think of awe. Is there any terror involved? Well, in one translation, 2 Corinthians 5, it says, "Since then we know the terror of the Lord, we persuade men." So there's some terror of the Lord. Every time you look in the Book of Judges or some of the other places where the Spirit of the Lord comes, or there's an appearance of the Lord, terror comes over those who come close to God. And yet there's an attraction, isn't there? There's a yearning to be in the presence of God, a sense of His presence and the awe and the power of God, and yet a sense of fear as well. Now, Romans chapter 8 says that we're not made a slave again to fear. It's not a slaverish-type fear, it's just who he is and who we are. That's all. And so, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. You wanna start on the journey, you start by fearing the Lord. And the contrast is just as clear, the fool despises the whole thing, they despise the journey, they're not going to listen, even if you tell them a thousand times, they're not going to listen, because they don't fear the Lord. So this book will profit you and benefit you as you fear the Lord, but if you don't fear the Lord, you're not even on the journey, not even walking along the way. So the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Come into this book, fearing the Lord, and he's got wisdom for you. Now, what we're going to do in our study beginning next week, is we're gonna begin looking at some topics. We're gonna go through and find some things out, very practical things on what Proverbs has to say about daily life, talk about character traits. We're gonna talk about good business practices. Perhaps, we're gonna talk about eating and drinking habits. Book of Proverbs speaks to these things. Sexual purity, how to watch out for the adulterous or the sexual tempter that will come in your life. The Book of Proverbs has a great deal to say about this. Work ethic, being a disciplined, hard-working person. Speech patterns, what to say and what not to say, when to speak and when to be silent. Handling money and wealth, controlling your emotions, raising your children, avoiding trouble spots, common trouble spots in people's lives, secrets to a blessed marriage. So all of that next week and then the following, we're gonna look at... No, no. We'll take one top. Alright, we're gonna zero in and we're gonna go through and find the Proverbs that speak to those. We're gonna try to plumb the depths of the wisdom of God so that we can acquire a disciplined and prudent life. So please come next week, come with an open heart, come with the fear of the Lord and let's be instructed by God. Let's close in prayer. Is there anything else, Bill? Alright. I'm gonna close in prayer. Heavenly Father, we do thank you for the time we've had to look at your word tonight. Thank you for the Book of Proverbs and the things we're gonna learn. But Father, tonight, we just wanted to remind ourselves who wisdom is, not so much what wisdom is but who wisdom is, and the wisdom is Jesus Christ. And we thank you that by faith in Christ, we have received wisdom from God, our righteousness, Jesus. And we have been given the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom, the beginning of knowledge. Father, I pray for my brothers and sisters here and for myself, that we might hear what you have to say, not be like the fool that despises knowledge, but rather one who is teachable, one who can learn and grow in wisdom. Father, we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Good night.

Isaiah 42:18-43:21 English Standard Version (ESV)Israel's Failure to Hear and See18 Hear, you deaf,    and look, you blind, that you may see!19 Who is blind but my servant,    or deaf as my messenger whom I send?Who is blind as my dedicated one,    or blind as the servant of the Lord?20 He sees many things, but does not observe them;    his ears are open, but he does not hear.21 The Lord was pleased, for his righteousness' sake,    to magnify his law and make it glorious.22 But this is a people plundered and looted;    they are all of them trapped in holes    and hidden in prisons;they have become plunder with none to rescue,    spoil with none to say, “Restore!”23 Who among you will give ear to this,    will attend and listen for the time to come?24 Who gave up Jacob to the looter,    and Israel to the plunderers?Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned,    in whose ways they would not walk,    and whose law they would not obey?25 So he poured on him the heat of his anger    and the might of battle;it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand;    it burned him up, but he did not take it to heart.Israel's Only Savior43 But now thus says the Lord,he who created you, O Jacob,    he who formed you, O Israel:“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;    I have called you by name, you are mine.2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;    and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,    and the flame shall not consume you.3 For I am the Lord your God,    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.I give Egypt as your ransom,    Cush and Seba in exchange for you.4 Because you are precious in my eyes,    and honored, and I love you,I give men in return for you,    peoples in exchange for your life.5 Fear not, for I am with you;    I will bring your offspring from the east,    and from the west I will gather you.6 I will say to the north, Give up,    and to the south, Do not withhold;bring my sons from afar    and my daughters from the end of the earth,7 everyone who is called by my name,    whom I created for my glory,    whom I formed and made.”8 Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes,    who are deaf, yet have ears!9 All the nations gather together,    and the peoples assemble.Who among them can declare this,    and show us the former things?Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right,    and let them hear and say, It is true.10 “You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord,    “and my servant whom I have chosen,that you may know and believe me    and understand that I am he.Before me no god was formed,    nor shall there be any after me.11 I, I am the Lord,    and besides me there is no savior.12 I declared and saved and proclaimed,    when there was no strange god among you;    and you are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and I am God.13 Also henceforth I am he;    there is none who can deliver from my hand;    I work, and who can turn it back?”14 Thus says the Lord,    your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:“For your sake I send to Babylon    and bring them all down as fugitives,    even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.15 I am the Lord, your Holy One,    the Creator of Israel, your King.”16 Thus says the Lord,    who makes a way in the sea,    a path in the mighty waters,17 who brings forth chariot and horse,    army and warrior;they lie down, they cannot rise,    they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:18 “Remember not the former things,    nor consider the things of old.19 Behold, I am doing a new thing;    now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?I will make a way in the wilderness    and rivers in the desert.20 The wild beasts will honor me,    the jackals and the ostriches,for I give water in the wilderness,    rivers in the desert,to give drink to my chosen people,21     the people whom I formed for myselfthat they might declare my praise.English Standard Version (ESV)The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Teller From Jerusalem – Series 1 Episode 9 – The Birth of Israel For many Jewish leaders, the Kishinev Pogrom was transformative. To Herzl, Kishinev was further evidence that Jews desperately needed a home – wherever they could create it. Thus, when he spoke about Kishinev, he did not refer to it as an event or a place, but rather as a condition.  Find Video Episodes at http://www.youtube.com/hanochteller Learn more at TellerFromJerusalem.com  © 2021 Media Education Trust llc  

The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:For learning about wisdom and instruction,    for understanding words of insight,for gaining instruction in wise dealing,    righteousness, justice, and equity;to teach shrewdness to the simple,    knowledge and prudence to the young—let the wise also hear and gain in learning,    and the discerning acquire skill,to understand a proverb and a figure,    the words of the wise and their riddles.The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;    fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Readings for Sunday, January 17, 2021 “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” -- Isaiah 43:19-20 Morning Psalm 19 1 The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; 4 yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun, 5 which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy, and like a strong man runs its course with joy. 6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and nothing is hid from its heat. 7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the Lord are sure, making wise the simple; 8 the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes; 9 the fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. 12 But who can detect their errors? Clear me from hidden faults. 13 Keep back your servant also from the insolent; do not let them have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. 14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 150 1 Praise the Lord ! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament! 2 Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his surpassing greatness! 3 Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! 4 Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! 5 Praise him with clanging cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! 6 Let everything that breathes praise the Lord ! Praise the Lord ! Midday Isaiah 43:14-44:5 14 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For your sake I will send to Babylon and break down all the bars, and the shouting of the Chaldeans will be turned to lamentation. 15 I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King. 16 Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, 17 who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: 18 Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. 19 I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. 20 The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, 21 the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise. 22 Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob; but you have been weary of me, O Israel! 23 You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings, or honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, or wearied you with frankincense. 24 You have not bought me sweet cane with money, or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities. 25 I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. 26 Accuse me, let us go to trial; set forth your case, so that you may be proved right. 27 Your first ancestor sinned, and your interpreters transgressed against me. 28 Therefore I profaned the princes of the sanctuary, I delivered Jacob to utter destruction, and Israel to reviling. 44 But now hear, O Jacob my servant, Israel whom I have chosen! 2 Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you in the womb and will help you: Do not fear, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen. 3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my spirit upon your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring. 4 They shall spring up like a green tamarisk, like willows by flowing streams. 5 This one will say, “I am the Lord's,” another will be called by the name of Jacob, yet another will write on the hand, “The Lord's,” and adopt the name of Israel. Hebrews 6:17-7:10 17 In the same way, when God desired to show even more clearly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it by an oath, 18 so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible that God would prove false, we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to seize the hope set before us. 19 We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. 7 This “King Melchizedek of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham as he was returning from defeating the kings and blessed him”; 2 and to him Abraham apportioned “one-tenth of everything.” His name, in the first place, means “king of righteousness”; next he is also king of Salem, that is, “king of peace.” 3 Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever. 4 See how great he is! Even Abraham the patriarch gave him a tenth of the spoils. 5 And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to collect tithes from the people, that is, from their kindred, though these also are descended from Abraham. 6 But this man, who does not belong to their ancestry, collected tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had received the promises. 7 It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8 In the one case, tithes are received by those who are mortal; in the other, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. 9 One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, 10 for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him. John 4:27-42 27 Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” 28 Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, 29 “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” 30 They left the city and were on their way to him. 31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest'? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. 36 The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, `One sows and another reaps.' 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” 39 Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.” Evening Psalm 81 1 Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob. 2 Raise a song, sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp. 3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our festal day. 4 For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob. 5 He made it a decree in Joseph, when he went out over the land of Egypt. I hear a voice I had not known: 6 “I relieved your shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket. 7 In distress you called, and I rescued you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah 8 Hear, O my people, while I admonish you; O Israel, if you would but listen to me! 9 There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god. 10 I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it. 11 “But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. 12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels. 13 O that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! 14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies, and turn my hand against their foes. 15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him, and their doom would last forever. 16 I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” Psalm 113 1 Praise the Lord ! Praise, O servants of the Lord ; praise the name of the Lord . 2 Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time on and forevermore. 3 From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised. 4 The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. 5 Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high, 6 who looks far down on the heavens and the earth? 7 He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap, 8 to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people. 9 He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord ! You can also find all of today's readings at PCUSA.org. The Daily Lectionary podcast is a ministry of First Presbyterian Church of Plattsburgh, NY, read by Pastor Timothy J. Luoma.

A Sermon for Christmas Day 1 John 1:1-14 by William Klock “In the beginning was the Word.”  Just like the words, “Once up on a time” or “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away,” that introduction “In the beginning” tells us that we’re reading the opening lines of a great story.  But unlike those other introductions, St. John’s opening words in his Gospel signal that this story is very much rooted in history.  “Once upon a time” and “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away” offer us no point of historical connection—just the opposite.  But John grounds the story of Jesus in history.  Yes, it’s a long time ago.  No, we can’t put a date on it.  But we can follow the biblical story, generation by generation right back to that beginning.  And that’s where John anchors the story of Jesus.  John anchors the Gospel in those events by which the God of Israel spoke, and by his word brought light out of the darkness, order out of the chaos, and created life—human beings to live in his presence—to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.  And as we know, not long after and by our rebellion, we broke that joyful fellowship and subjected ourselves instead to sin and death.  We drew a cloak of darkness over the world. Here is what the gospel is about: The creator God himself entering the darkness of this fallen world to restore the light and to set it to rights.  But what’s this “word” got to do with it?  For that we need, as always to return to the Old Testament and to Israel’s story.  When John writes of the word—the Greek word he uses is one you’ve heard before, logos—he’s not using it the way the pagan philosophers like Heraclitus, Plato, or the Stoics used it.  If that’s where we start, we’ll be on the wrong foot from the get-go.  They spoke of a sort of deified universal reason, a pantheistic mind behind the universe.  No, John’s logos is grounded in Israel’s story and he tips us off with those words, “In the beginning”. John lays Genesis here like a foundation stone and from it we take our cue to look to the Jewish scriptures.  Repeatedly in Genesis 1, God speaks and life-sustaining order and, eventually, life itself springs forth from the dark chaos.  Psalm 33:6 echoes Genesis 1: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.”  In Isaiah 55:10-11 the word of the Lord brought hope to a fallen Israel: “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven          and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout,          giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;          it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,          and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. Like the rain from heaven bringing life to the earth, the word of the Lord will proceed from his mouth and accomplish his purposes with absolute certainty—in this case, to restore and to renew his people.  Isaiah 40:6-8 speaks of the everlasting nature of the word of the Lord: All flesh is grass,          and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades          when the breath of the LORD blows on it;          surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades,          but the word of our God will stand forever. Flowers fade, grass withers, people die, but the Lord’s word stands forever.  But what actually is this “word”?  With his statement that the word was, in the beginning, God and with God, John points us back to passages like Proverbs 8, which speaks of wisdom as that which was not only there with God in the beginning, acting with creative force, but that which continues to sustain creation and guide aright those who will listen. “The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work,          the first of his acts of old. Ages ago I was set up,          at the first, before the beginning of the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth,          when there were no springs abounding with water…   …then I was beside him, like a master workman,           and I was daily his delight,          rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world          and delighting in the children of man. Similarly, Sirach 24 places wisdom at the creation of the world, but also associates wisdom with the law given to Israel and established in Jerusalem and in the temple: “Then the Creator of all things gave me a commandment, and the one who created me assigned a place for my tent. And he said, ‘Make your dwelling in Jacob, and in Israel receive your inheritance.’  From eternity, in the beginning, he created me, and for eternity I shall not cease to exist.  In the holy tabernacle I ministered before him, and so I was established in Zion.  In the beloved city likewise he gave me a resting place, and in Jerusalem was my dominion.  So I took root in an honored people, in the portion of the Lord, who is their inheritance. What John says here is that by which God creates and sustains the life of the cosmos has taken on human flesh and been born into the world.  And yet this is no inanimate force emanating from God or merely with him.  It is, somehow, God himself.  Humanity’s sin has brought the darkness of death upon creation, but God himself, in all his creative and life-giving power, has come to lighten the darkness by restoring life. Of course, in keeping with our fallenness, people failed to recognise the light.  John the Baptist was sent to herald the light and even many who believed him failed to recognise the light when he arrived.  And yet, John tells us, to those who did receive him, he gave the right to become children of God.  John gives us another hint or two here of the story.  Who were the “sons of God”?  That was Israel’s title, given at the Exodus—God’s beloved and firstborn son.  In Jesus a new family has been born.  It began with the old.  The first believers, the first sons and daughters of this new family were drawn from the old.  And yet John hints at the blossoming fulfilment of the old Israel’s mission in this new family.  There’s a universality in those words, “to all who did receive him” and we know that he doesn’t just mean all those of the old family who believed, because he goes on to say that the sons and daughters of this new Israel are born not of blood or the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God himself.  Descent, desire, and human power are not the basis of this new family, but rather God himself by the power of his life-creating and life-sustaining word.  The Lord created life by the power of his word in the beginning and humanity rejected that gift of life.  Now a new beginning has been made as the word has returned, this time wedded to our flesh, bring life from death and to restore the rejected gift. And then those final words: we have seen the glory, the glory of the Father revealed in the Son, full of grace and truth.  John draws on the words of Psalm 85:10, “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other” (KJV).  Psalm 85 is a prayer—a prayer of the exile, seeking the Lord for forgiveness and for restoration.  It is very much an Advent sort of hymn.  Here at the end of our Christmas Gospel those words stand, “full of grace and truth”.  In Jesus the prayer has finally been answered. Brothers and Sisters, take heart.  We walk through difficult days.  They’re hardly the most difficult days humans have ever faced, but they are, for many of us, the most difficult days that our generation has known.  To make matters worse, the world is practically shouting at us right now that our faith is irrelevant, that it doesn’t matter.  Things seem very dark.  Thanks be to God that the light has come into the darkness and that the darkness has not overcome it.  The worst the darkness could ever do, it did on that Friday almost two thousand years ago when it crucified Jesus on a cross.  Three days later the light burst forth from the tomb, brighter than it ever had been before.  Take heart.  We have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. Let’s pray: Almighty God, you have given your only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and to be born this day of a pure virgin: Grant that we, who have been born again and made your children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by your Holy Spirit; through our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom with you and the same Spirit be honour and glory, now and for ever.  Amen.

The Faction Election War Won (6) (Audio) Fall of the Factious House Ken C. 12/11/20  The dream was the only kind of dream of this nature I have had. It felt very different than my normal dreams.  I found myself seated behind a lady who I perceived to be Nancy Pelosi (I never saw her face just the back of her head), she was addressing congress standing behind the main podium in the main chamber of congress and all of the representatives were seated and in session. While she was speaking of a victory and I felt a disappointed/discouraged feeling in my spirit. (No doubt many are feeling a discouragement but we said it would look bad  before it got better.  That the power of man would fail but the power of God would prevail.)  I was sadden to see her, and in a general sense, the corrupt, still in power, leader of the house. (The Lord spoke this verse to me at this point. Isa 43:14-19  Thus saith Jehovah, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and I will bring down all of them as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships of their rejoicing.  15  I am Jehovah, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.  16  Thus saith Jehovah, who maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters; (a Red Sea judgment) 17  who bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the mighty man (they lie down together, they shall not rise; they are extinct, they are quenched as a wick):  18  Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.  19  Behold, I will do a new thing; now shall it spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.).  While she was still speaking a voice of one of the representatives interrupted her loudly shouting in a confused tone of voice, “It’s raining?!” (I again perceived the voice to be of A.O.C as I did not see her say this due to where I was seated at the time). (Two stolen seats through Dominion?)  After hearing this interruption I pondered how can this be and thought to myself we are inside of the house (chamber of congress) and surely the roof wouldn’t be leaking? (This is called the “do nothing Congress”. because they do nothing to help the people but make war against Trump who has done great things for the country and people. In most peoples opinion the radical leftists stole their seats and this is in the process of being proven. This is why they feel they must get rid of Trump before he gets rid of them. In parallel that God has shown us factious usurpers in the church have stolen a position of authority over the chosen people like Edom did to Israel.  They like Jereboam factioned against the house of David and made priests of the people who were not Levites and so they worshipped the golden calf calling it the Lord.  The parallel war against President Trump and the Man-child continues but not for long.) As I pondered this thought I got up from my seat and peered into the crowd and noticed a light sprinkle of rain had fallen. I could see the drops on all the furniture, desks, podium, etc. As I leaned forward to get an even closer look at the drops and just then a section of the roof collapsed into a heap bringing with it a huge amount of water, roof debris. (Other dreams have an earthquake bringing down the House)  What appeared to me at first to be walnuts still in their shells. I then looked up through the newly formed hole in the roof and could clearly see it was indeed raining heavily and that it was raining both water and a mystery hail that I perceived to be walnuts at first glance. As the rain/hail mixture continued there was panic in the chamber as the congress men and women screamed in shock and amazement. I watched as this rain/hail mixture totally was destroying the house!  (What kind of rain and hail would destroy the house?  First of all the house has been ruled by the criminal DS.  It is evil and their works are evil, except for a few honest people who they will not listen to and some were cheated out of their seats. So this spiritual rain is destruction from God.  Speaking of the house of the evil man God says. Mat 7:27  and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and smote upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall thereof.  Isa 28:15-17  Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us; for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:  16  therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone of sure foundation: he that believeth shall not be in haste.  17  And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place. Everywhere the rain mixture fell it dissolved away everything it touched, furniture, desks, walls, everything, as if it was an exceedingly strong acid. (The water of the Word of truth from heaven which they hid from will destroy them. The truth of what they have done will be everywhere soon.) It left parts of the house totally dissolved away and other parts looking like it was Swiss cheese. The rain went on for some time and more of the house was destroyed with each passing moment until it was just a heap of ruin.  All the people who were once so sure of themselves and the government were terribly frightened at the sight of the house's sudden destruction. It was at this time I was curious to take a closer look at the walnuts to see if they were indeed walnuts. As I peered for a closer look I noticed that the hail I had thought resembled walnuts still in their shells were actually potatoes! Then the words “potato rebellion” came into my mind in a flash.  (In the game, all over the internet, called "Potato Rebellion", the potato’s are little people who get squashed before they get where they are intending to go and the sheep, who they are riding on the back of, are set free when this happens.  LOL, they have hated all of God’s people and sought to destroy them. This parallel is true in the faction in the House of Church and State. https://youtu.be/2gRuITzIFLM  Potatoes also hide underground until you dig them out into the light so you can see what you really have. I believe the light of truth about to be revealed will destroy many in congress on both sides of the isle And the apostate faction in the Church.) Just after seeing all this and hearing those words I was transported suddenly to a bridge just outside the Washington DC where I could now see that the rain potato mixture was also destroying many different landmarks and government buildings throughout DC. (Named after famous men no doubt. Many will lose their reputation when it is proven they are traitors or got in office illegally by bribes or were blackmailed, etc.)   As I looked in amazement at the destruction I awoke. That concludes the dream, just wanted to share as I again am looking for any insights as I feel it fits in with what the Lord has been revealing through UBM in terms of faction/civil war in America.  We have received many such dreams from the Saints to confirm this interpretation. They are all parables but the interpretation is the same. When a dream is doubled Joseph said in Gen 41:32  And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh, it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.  He was talking about two separate dreams that Pharaoh had. One was about the seven cows (Genesis 41:17-21) and the other was about the seven ears of corn (Genesis 41:22-24).  Doubled here means the interpretation is the same even if the parable is different.  Most of the notes in these dreams were from the time of the dream but I also put a few updated notes pointing to this time.   Trump Wins and a Capital Building Blows Up Sandy Shaw, 11/8/19 (Don and Merlene transcribed) (David’s notes in red) The way this dream starts I knew it was election night and it was late. I turned the TV on to see the news. Trump had definitely won! They were so surprised...a blue state had turned red! (Look at the date of this dream. It is now that the blue states will turn red when the truth comes out)  Then all of a sudden, there was breaking news. They showed a capital building blowing up. (The Capitol Dome is where the house chamber is.)  I don’t know where. (This blowing up is probably spiritual.  Other dreams have the capitol falling to an earthquake which is spiritual but could also be physical. Other dreams seem to say that it is our own capital building and that the DS government is going to be devastated as we are seeing happen spiritually. The liberals are falling all apart and losing all support trying to impeach President Trump. They are destroying themselves in view of all, and are turning on one another, and will lose the election.)   There was fire all around. I looked at Jeff and said, “Civil war has physically started and there is no turning back.” (These criminals have tried even world Nuclear war to cover for their sins and failed and are desperate and have nothing left to do but war against the people and elected government. Watch out for famine, plague, sword and fire; The methods Babylon used to conquer the apostate people of God. But then its their turn as Cyrus, as a type of P. Trump, and his armies brings them down.  The Edomites will lose by the Hand of God.) And then I woke up. I received by faith at random, Eze 31:12-14. finger on 14. 12 And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the watercourses of the land; and all the peoples of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him. (The text speaks of the fall of Pharaoh and his army, which fits the Obama/Hillary administration. It is the nations destroying the DS.) 13 Upon his ruin all the birds of the heavens shall dwell, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches; 14 to the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves in their stature, neither set their top among the thick boughs, nor that their mighty ones stand up on their height, even all that drink water: for they are all delivered unto death, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit.     Capitol NukedLisa Golt – 8/23/14 (David’s notes in red) This is a short dream I had a few years ago. I didn't write it down at the time but always remembered some of it. One night, last week before going to sleep I asked the Lord to either give me the dream again or bring it all back to my memory. A few minutes later I remembered how the dream went.  Praise the Lord! I saw a big mushroom cloud rise up over the White House (I believe the Lord showed me that the House behind the White House is the deep state attacking the White House, and President Trump.  (The Capitol Dome is where the House chamber is. It is the House behind, from her point of view, where the mushroom cloud rose up over the White House)  It was a scary sight and people were panicking everywhere. (The darkness on the land represents spiritual darkness and there has been chaos breaking out sporadically but if the deep state were to succeed there could be mass chaos.)  I was in Texas looking towards the east coast. (I should note that we recently moved to Texas from Delaware. At the time of this dream I had no idea we would move to Texas....interesting.)  Even though I was far away I could see it clearly. I think the reason I was able to see it from where I was is because we all can see in the natural right now the attacks on Trump.)  It was like I could see all the states but it was more like looking at a map (hard to explain) I remember there was something about a northern state which I believe was Minnesota because I knew it began with an M. I don't know what it was, the Lord has not shown me more about that. As this was happening I knew chaos was breaking out. I prayed and then asked the Lord "Where did this come from?" Then I was caught up with the Lord and He took me over to the White House, which looked enormous in size (the building looked the same as it actually is, just really big) (The White House was still there, and large in the eyes of the people, and the spiritual explosion did not take it down. This means the White House and President Trump will retain his power with the people while the criminals running the House and parts of the Senate are taken down. Notice the White House is now big and the House behind is now small.  It is so in God’s eyes.)  He showed me a smaller white building behind it. I said, "That is where it came from?" (Could this be the mostly underground building built at the intersection of the underground railroad to house the House and Senate in case of an attack? Our friend Brandon was a nurse who was seeing to a patient in his hospital room when a man walked in with a briefcase and opened it to show him a drawing of this building. The man said, these walls were made to fall inward not outward. Then he put the drawing back in his brifecase and was leaving the room.  Brandon followed him out but when he got to the hall he looked both ways but the man was gone. There was no way he could have ducked into a room.  He was clearly and angel. I believe this is the capitol building which will fall on the lawmakers)  Just as I got the words out I knew the answer was yes. Even though this was a horrible thing, I felt peace because I knew the Lord was with me This is a follow up dream was given to Angelica Garza: I had a dream that Nancy Pelosi was attacking me. I think I was asking her is she knows about the Lord, and I realized she was just wasting my time and was planning to attack me. Im not sure but I thought she was going behind this shed type building frame with no walls to change into a swarm of bees. (They are swarming together all the bad actors to come against the Church; Leftists, Satanists, witches, Muslims, Anarchists, Communists, the drug lords, etc. etc..) Then she attacked me and I ran. (As God’s people will do)   Don't remember much else. Maybe this is confirmation of an attack from them. (She has been in on all the DS corruption to take down the Church.)   Portions of Ken Dewey's Prophecies on the fall of the Capitol on DS lawmakers "Washington, DC will dance, then fall. (Update - 11/20/16: I think this speaks of the buildings in an earthquake dancing. However, Pam pointed out that there are inaugural dancing balls from about 1/17-21/. This could be a timing in 2021?.) Men will frantically search the rubble, looking for their leaders. This nation will go down to rise different than when it fell. I will stop them short of their plans. I will be in the White House. I will be in the ruins making sure the right men rise. I am definitely going to turn things around. I will shut the mouth of the arrogant and the silence will be golden. - Jesus Christ" (Silence from the railing and slander and chaos fomented by the Left will be golden.) "You must know and be ready because, without Me, you will not stand. I will shake things off their foundations to uncover the wicked plan of the enemy to destroy this land. I will move to stop the present administration (now the previous administration which never gave up power)  and the Democratic Party. They will fall and fall hard in the shaking. Many evil men will die the death -- yes, tragic death -- cutting them short of their goal. You must know and realize that I will strike the very ground they walk on. "Washington DC will be shaken (the buildings and the government leaders) so bad there will have to be an emergency leadership set up and in the setting up of it many changes will result. I will raise up new leaders to walk in a different way. The present administration will cease and many others. (Other nations will also lose their corrupt governments because this is the first of many quakes that will circle the globe.) The Democratic Party will be devastated. I move to make a statement to the people of America. "Catastrophe x3. This has been my warning in the past that you have written. EARTHQUAKES. Look for them on the West Coast and on the East Coast, and the New Madrid will split (Although I have never met Ken, this is exactly as we have taught because of dreams and visions.) There will result major destruction and many will perish". I have heard the Lord speaking about 2016 and saying a lot of things of great importance. ... By the words I have heard about the "change of president", it sounds as if this nation will see its government FALL DOWN so hard that there will be of necessity a whole new order begun to replace the fallen. In the midst of this turmoil, there is going to be a GREAT TIME OF BLESSING FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD. The blessing He talked to me about was in the form of BUILDING. He said He would call many Noahs to build what He called His ARKS OF SAFETY. The fact is, the Lord has many thousands of his people in this land and He intends to PROTECT THEM FROM THE STORM THAT IS COMING. In this year, we can expect to see the Lord taking from the wicked and giving to his people. (As it was just before Israel went into the wilderness tribulation.) 2016 WILL ACTUALLY BE A TIME OF BUILDING OF HIS BODY, PREPARING THEM FOR THE GREAT JUDGMENT COMING and at the time of the body of Christ building, there will be a great time of the ungodly falling.   Repairing the Passover for the East Coast Earthquake to Take Down the CapitolDavid Eells - 04/19/2012Notes: [ David | Deborah Horton ] On 4/19/12, Rick Sergent said, "I saw the word EARTHQUAKE in red letters ... I then saw these words: "Great Destruction Will Impede Traveling". ... Then I saw the number 85. I did not know what this number meant. After asking the Lord to explain to me about this 85, I received this revelation from Deborah Horton within two days and 85 is emphasized again. She didn't know about Rick's dream. Here I was restoring I-85 overpass or Passover going to Washington DC where a record earthquake had just happened, as a sign of the great earthquake to come. Here is a portion of it: Deborah: There was a highway work crew repairing the overpass where I-85 goes over Highway 29. (The spiritual road crew represents those reformers who restore the paths to dwell in. {Isa.58:12} And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places; thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.) ("Overpass" is a wordplay on "Passover"; if we want the Lord to pass over our sins, we must forgive everyone. But I was giving place to doubt and bitterness about a particular person when I had this dream. In real life, the place where I-85 passes over Highway 29 was chewed-up by heavy trucks going to and from the smelly, multi-state landfill. The landfill there is as large as a small mountain. Part of it was finally patched. So, we could say that the I-85 overpass/Passover has been kept in disrepair by trucks creating a mountain of garbage, representing the magnitude of stinking thinking and ways of those who give in to factions and their false Jesus and apostate leadership [or evil leadership in DC]. That would explain why below David was repairing the road. {Isa.58:12} ... The restorer of paths to dwell in.) (Deb later told me 85 is meaning 8 = new beginning and 5 = grace. Highway 29 mostly parallels and covers I-85, zigzagging back and forth across the path of I-85.) Comments from Rick's emails: In Deb Horton's dream, David was over a highway work crew, repairing the I-85 overpass. (Passover of Highway 29, which represents the coming East Coast earthquake, meaning God's people must be prepared through faith and good works to escape these quakes.) In the natural, Highway 29 goes to the heart of Washington DC, which speaks of the future quake. USGS says the epicenter of the 8/23/11, 5.8 [85 backwards] quake was five miles S-SW of Mineral, VA which is 84 miles to DC. [probably 85 to the White House]. Number 29 may mean a second quake or judgment. (2 = second [or division by earthquake] and 9 = judgment.) David - 4/21/12: I am convinced of the spiritual revelation of the number 85 as a Passover and that these quakes are coming. But it is interesting that a Passover is being repaired on the I-85 interstate going over Highway 29 and goes 84 or 85 miles from the epicenter of the last quake in VA to D.C. where the same 5.8 quake judged the Washington Monument and the Statue of Liberty. And cracked the White House. Not a chance that is not a sign. Government and liberty will be changed by this. I am convinced that we must be entitled to the Passover of this judgment, which was paid for by Jesus, when it does come. Make sure your heart is right with God and your brethren by abiding in Jesus Christ.   Enemies Will Fall in the Capitol Eve Brast - 07/12/2016(David's notes in red) I had prayed at the Monday night prayer meeting for a confirmation dream about the things we all had discussed and prayed about concerning this country.  (It was a confirmation of just what we said that night.) On Tuesday morning I had this dream: I had a dream within a dream that I was high up at the edge of a balcony inside the capital rotunda in D.C.  (A symbol of our government, a joining of the House, Senate and President's Room at the Capitol Rotunda. This balance of powers and Constitution has been usurped by this president (Obama) but it appears not for long, by God's grace. Update: And God’s grace gave us President Trump.)  I was sitting in a car.  (Which we thought was associated with a future part of our ministry that would fall if the government didn't change.) It also had red leather interior. The car was teetering on the edge of the balcony and there was no railing. I could look up and see the domed ceiling of the rotunda near the roof of the car. I then leaned forward to look down toward the foundation through the front windshield of the car. The whole car then slid forward and began falling toward the floor and foundation of the building. All I could see everywhere was the white curvature of the walls and the floor below. It was like falling downward inside a large white grain silo. (A symbol of our ministry to the people falling if the criminal government stayed in office under Hillary.) As I got closer to hitting the bottom, I could make out all the cracks in the foundation. (The cracks symbolize the instability of the Obama government; it was about to fall. Update: and is still falling.) Then a voice behind me said, "Command it to stop!" (Meaning the car's plunge.)  (In the car was Eve, the symbol of the Bride of the last Adam, Jesus, but she and her authority will be saved.) So I pointed to the front of the car and commanded it to stop falling. The car pulled up very swiftly and to the right.  (A sign the Obama/Hillary government will fail to bring down our ministry)  Then I saw some maroon carpet appear in a room to the right on the ground floor, along with an old cherry wood desk and chair. There were some books and an old lamp that was lit on the desk. (The President's Room.) Then I woke up from the dream inside the dream. I found myself standing back up on the edge of the high balcony with no railing. Behind me was a hallway with several rooms. It was semi-dark because there were important men laying on large cots in these rooms.  (Physically, there is nothing that high in the rotunda like this. This is a future spiritual government that is above the physical government.) Robin then walked up to me and asked, "Hey, Eve, anything new? Had any dreams lately?" I began telling her about the dream I had just woken up from when an angel appeared behind us and came and stood behind us. He said, "The Capitol will fall!” (The former DS government will fall). He then went on to quote Amos 9:1 and pronounce judgments: {Amo.9:1} I saw the Lord standing beside the altar: and he said, Smite the capitals, that the thresholds may shake  (The thresholds of the Rotunda are to all branches of the DS government. Capitols, plural, of other DS governments are falling too.); and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape. The same verse we have received many times.  The government buildings will fall by spiritual and/or physical earthquake on those God decides to take out so that a new government will have to be formed.  Then the angel disappeared and David came walking up to us. (A type of the Man-child David reformers coming to power.). … (At the time of the collapse, the John the Baptist repentance ministry will bring in the Man-child ministry. With the collapse of the evil government in Church and State, the Man-child ministry government will begin.) They were 12 young men in all, about 19 years old and very big and strong, like linebackers on a football team. (Strong in spirit because of the anointing.) I didn't see them all, only the first one that was awakened, but I knew there were 12.  (We have many dreams of the coming 12 Man-children from UBM.) I believe they are new leadership being raised up for God's people after things take a dive in this country.  (After the fall of the carnal government.) Because they were in that upper area with us. It was a place that couldn't have existed in the natural, being attached like that to the top of that domed Rotunda. (The heads of the new spiritual government for the Church. When Pharaoh and his mighty men fell in the Red Sea tsunami, Moses was there to lead the people into the wilderness. Before this, the people had been under the Egyptian government. Now it was dead.) I had a feeling in the dream that David knew these young men and had been watching over them. Maybe as a type of Jesus.  (We were prophesied to be the point of the spear of the Man-child ministry.) The men were all on these large cots covered, even over their heads, with dark blue and green blankets. I woke up after seeing the first man get up.  (These men are asleep; even their faces are covered as dead men. This is a resurrection like at John's baptism for the Man-child Jesus.  Their heads are covered as a sign of illegal authority over them, as in 1 Corinthians 11: a man should not have his head covered, for his head is Christ. But they are covered because, in effect, their ability to effectively govern has been usurped by Pharaoh's government. They will awaken to the fact that they have been prepared by God to take leadership when Pharaoh and his mighty men die in the Red Sea while chasing God's people. Just like this DS government is dying. This is a sign that the wilderness tribulation is just ahead.)         Select LanguageAfrikaansAlbanianAmharicArabicArmenianAzerbaijaniBasqueBelarusianBengaliBosnianBulgarianCatalanCebuanoChichewaChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CorsicanCroatianCzechDanishDutchEsperantoEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchFrisianGalicianGeorgianGermanGreekGujaratiHaitian CreoleHausaHawaiianHebrewHindiHmongHungarianIcelandicIgboIndonesianIrishItalianJapaneseJavaneseKannadaKazakhKhmerKinyarwandaKoreanKurdish (Kurmanji)KyrgyzLaoLatinLatvianLithuanianLuxembourgishMacedonianMalagasyMalayMalayalamMalteseMaoriMarathiMongolianMyanmar (Burmese)NepaliNorwegianOdia (Oriya)PashtoPersianPolishPortuguesePunjabiRomanianRussianSamoanScots GaelicSerbianSesothoShonaSindhiSinhalaSlovakSlovenianSomaliSpanishSundaneseSwahiliSwedishTajikTamilTatarTeluguThaiTurkishTurkmenUkrainianUrduUyghurUzbekVietnameseWelshXhosaYiddishYorubaZulu Powered by Translate Printer-friendly version

Why would God provide prophecy through the mouth of Zechariah, father of John? Why does Zechariah speak as if it all has already taken place? Zechariah Prophesies | Luke 1:67-79 | Heralding the King | Outline | Video And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel / For he hath visited and wrought redemption for his people And hath raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of his servant David / As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets that have been from of old Salvation from our enemies / and from the hand of all that hate us To show mercy towards our fathers / And to remember his holy covenant The oath which he sware unto Abraham our father / To grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies Should serve him without fear / In holiness and righteousness before him all our days. Yea and thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Most High / For thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to make ready his ways To give knowledge of salvation unto his people In the remission of their sins / Because of the tender mercy of our God Whereby the dayspring from on high shall visit us / To shine upon them that sit in darkness and the shadow of death / To guide our feet into the way of peace.

Randy's message: No longer united against Israel" (For now)

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Don Futterman and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. —Who Shall Live— As Israel’s hospitals are overwhelmed with Covid patients, how do doctors decide who gets a ventilator and who doesn’t? —AOC, AOC, Won’t You Fight for Me?— Is AOC not that into us? —Make Me a Match— Why is matchmaking becoming a thing for (secular) Israelis? —Our First Lousy, Temporary Homes in Israel— For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion, ahead of Sukkot, the only holiday of the Jewish year that valorizes lousy, temporary housing, we reminisce about some of our first lousy, temporary homes here in Israel. All that and the happy music of Amir ve Ben!

Psalms and Wisdom: Psalm 28 Psalm 28 (Listen) The Lord Is My Strength and My Shield Of David. 28   To you, O LORD, I call;    my rock, be not deaf to me,  lest, if you be silent to me,    I become like those who go down to the pit.2   Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy,    when I cry to you for help,  when I lift up my hands    toward your most holy sanctuary.1 3   Do not drag me off with the wicked,    with the workers of evil,  who speak peace with their neighbors    while evil is in their hearts.4   Give to them according to their work    and according to the evil of their deeds;  give to them according to the work of their hands;    render them their due reward.5   Because they do not regard the works of the LORD    or the work of his hands,  he will tear them down and build them up no more. 6   Blessed be the LORD!    For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.7   The LORD is my strength and my shield;    in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;  my heart exults,    and with my song I give thanks to him. 8   The LORD is the strength of his people;2    he is the saving refuge of his anointed.9   Oh, save your people and bless your heritage!    Be their shepherd and carry them forever. Footnotes [1] 28:2 Hebrew your innermost sanctuary [2] 28:8 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts is their strength (ESV) Pentateuch and History: 1 Samuel 17 1 Samuel 17 (Listen) David and Goliath 17 Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. 2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines. 3 And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. 4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six1 cubits2 and a span. 5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels3 of bronze. 6 And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And his shield-bearer went before him. 8 He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” 10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. 12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years.4 13 The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14 David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. 16 For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening. 17 And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah5 of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers. 18 Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.” 19 Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20 And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry. 21 And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. 22 And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers. 23 As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him. 24 All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid. 25 And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father’s house free in Israel.” 26 And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” 27 And the people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.” 28 Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.” 29 And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?” 30 And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before. 31 When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. 32 And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 36 Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you!” 38 Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, 39 and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine. 41 And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42 And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. 43 And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” 45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hand.” 48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. 50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. 52 And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath6 and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. 53 And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. 54 And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent. 55 As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.” 56 And the king said, “Inquire whose son the boy is.” 57 And as soon as David returned from the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58 And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.” Footnotes [1] 17:4 Hebrew; Septuagint, Dead Sea Scroll and Josephus four [2] 17:4 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters [3] 17:5 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams [4] 17:12 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew advanced among men [5] 17:17 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters [6] 17:52 Septuagint; Hebrew Gai (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Habakkuk 3 Habakkuk 3 (Listen) Habakkuk’s Prayer 3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth. 2   O LORD, I have heard the report of you,    and your work, O LORD, do I fear.  In the midst of the years revive it;    in the midst of the years make it known;    in wrath remember mercy.3   God came from Teman,    and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah  His splendor covered the heavens,    and the earth was full of his praise.4   His brightness was like the light;    rays flashed from his hand;    and there he veiled his power.5   Before him went pestilence,    and plague followed at his heels.16   He stood and measured the earth;    he looked and shook the nations;  then the eternal mountains were scattered;    the everlasting hills sank low.    His were the everlasting ways.7   I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction;    the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.8   Was your wrath against the rivers, O LORD?    Was your anger against the rivers,    or your indignation against the sea,  when you rode on your horses,    on your chariot of salvation?9   You stripped the sheath from your bow,    calling for many arrows.2 Selah    You split the earth with rivers.10   The mountains saw you and writhed;    the raging waters swept on;  the deep gave forth its voice;    it lifted its hands on high.11   The sun and moon stood still in their place    at the light of your arrows as they sped,    at the flash of your glittering spear.12   You marched through the earth in fury;    you threshed the nations in anger.13   You went out for the salvation of your people,    for the salvation of your anointed.  You crushed the head of the house of the wicked,    laying him bare from thigh to neck.3 Selah14   You pierced with his own arrows the heads of his warriors,    who came like a whirlwind to scatter me,    rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret.15   You trampled the sea with your horses,    the surging of mighty waters. 16   I hear, and my body trembles;    my lips quiver at the sound;  rottenness enters into my bones;    my legs tremble beneath me.  Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble    to come upon people who invade us. Habakkuk Rejoices in the Lord 17   Though the fig tree should not blossom,    nor fruit be on the vines,  the produce of the olive fail    and the fields yield no food,  the flock be cut off from the fold    and there be no herd in the stalls,18   yet I will rejoice in the LORD;    I will take joy in the God of my salvation.19   GOD, the Lord, is my strength;    he makes my feet like the deer’s;    he makes me tread on my high places.   To the choirmaster: with stringed4 instruments. Footnotes [1] 3:5 Hebrew feet [2] 3:9 The meaning of the Hebrew line is uncertain [3] 3:13 The meaning of the Hebrew line is uncertain [4] 3:19 Hebrew my stringed (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: Luke 1:1–25 Luke 1:1–25 (Listen) Dedication to Theophilus 1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. Birth of John the Baptist Foretold 5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah,1 of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. 8 Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. 11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” 18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 19 And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” 21 And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. 22 And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. 23 And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home. 24 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, 25 “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.” Footnotes [1] 1:5 Greek Zacharias (ESV)

Hello!Welcome to the Being Podcast.  Today is the third episode of Season 3: Prophets!  The prophets spoke truth to God's people.  In many scenarios this is a hard truth of correction or rebuke, but much of it is a call to identity.  While these books are references of a specific message for a specific people, the beauty of scripture is that much of what they are told then are things we need to be reminded of today.  Today we'll be exploring Isaiah 43:14-21 in which the God speaks the the new work He is going to do in and through His people.  A new thing that brings refreshment, and water in the desert.___________________________________________Alongside Season 3 we're adding a bunch of extra content for you!  Beginning the first week in July we'll be launching Monday Meditations, which will be a weekly meditation podcast available in addition to a weekly scripture meditation on wednesdays!  We will also be adding a YouTube channel and are proud to announce that we'll be starting a Patreon!Patreon is the best way for you to support the channel and get extra access to things along with special merch and early access!www.patreon.com/beingpodcastYou can find links and episode updates at www.thebeingpodcast.comThanks for listening!Isaiah 43:14-21The Lord's Promise of Victory"This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:“For your sakes I will send an army against Babylon,    forcing the Babylonians to flee in those ships they are so proud of.I am the Lord, your Holy One,    Israel's Creator and King.I am the Lord, who opened a way through the waters,    making a dry path through the sea.I called forth the mighty army of Egypt    with all its chariots and horses.I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned,    their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick.“But forget all that—    it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.For I am about to do something new.    See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?I will make a pathway through the wilderness.    I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.The wild animals in the fields will thank me,    the jackals and owls, too,    for giving them water in the desert.Yes, I will make rivers in the dry wasteland    so my chosen people can be refreshed.I have made Israel for myself,    and they will someday honor me before the whole world."Support the show (http://www.patreon.com/beingpodcast)

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FULFILLING YOUR CALL AS A KING AND A PRIEST! In this video, we take a look at the 4 typologies (David, Paul, Moses & Joseph) for the four fivefold ministry callings. No matter what your set, the Lord has called you to serve His people as a royal (king) priest! *Corrections (mistakes in speech): 12:06 – meant to say “Judah and Israel” --------------------------------------------------------------- For more free resources visit our website: www.pura-t-international.org.uk DREAM JOURNAL: Dreams: Record & Interpret Your Dreams From God: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1999961676 You can also connect with us via social media: https://www.facebook.com/PuraTInternational https://twitter.com/puraTIntl https://www.instagram.com/puratinternational/

"Remember...if you pray for workers to go into the Lord's harvest, you might be asked to be part of the answer to your own prayer." How does God use our unique gifts, qualities, and circumstances to advance His kingdom? What - if anything - do we have in common with the disciples whom Jesus told to "go ... to the lost sheep of the house of Israel?" For the first Sunday in the season after Pentecost (or "Ordinary Time"), interim rector Fr. Al Janssen preaches from the Gospel of Matthew 9:35-10:15. Support the show (https://swp.paymentsgateway.net/co/default.aspx?pg_api_login_id=XOX6J1RvRj)

Old Testament: 1 Samuel 17 1 Samuel 17 (Listen) David and Goliath 17 Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. 2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines. 3 And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. 4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six1 cubits2 and a span. 5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels3 of bronze. 6 And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And his shield-bearer went before him. 8 He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” 10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. 12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years.4 13 The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14 David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. 16 For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening. 17 And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah5 of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers. 18 Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.” 19 Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20 And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry. 21 And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. 22 And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers. 23 As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him. 24 All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid. 25 And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel.” 26 And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” 27 And the people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.” 28 Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.” 29 And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?” 30 And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before. 31 When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. 32 And David said to Saul, “Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 36 Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you!” 38 Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, 39 and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine. 41 And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42 And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. 43 And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” 45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hand.” 48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. 50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. 52 And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath6 and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. 53 And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. 54 And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent. 55 As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.” 56 And the king said, “Inquire whose son the boy is.” 57 And as soon as David returned from the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58 And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.” Footnotes [1] 17:4 Hebrew; Septuagint, Dead Sea Scroll and Josephus four [2] 17:4 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters [3] 17:5 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams [4] 17:12 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew advanced among men [5] 17:17 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters [6] 17:52 Septuagint; Hebrew Gai (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 119:49–56 Psalm 119:49–56 (Listen) Zayin 49   Remember your word to your servant,    in which you have made me hope.50   This is my comfort in my affliction,    that your promise gives me life.51   The insolent utterly deride me,    but I do not turn away from your law.52   When I think of your rules from of old,    I take comfort, O LORD.53   Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked,    who forsake your law.54   Your statutes have been my songs    in the house of my sojourning.55   I remember your name in the night, O LORD,    and keep your law.56   This blessing has fallen to me,    that I have kept your precepts. (ESV) New Testament: 2 Corinthians 9–10 2 Corinthians 9–10 (Listen) The Collection for Christians in Jerusalem 9 Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry for the saints, 2 for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them. 3 But I am sending1 the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be. 4 Otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—for being so confident. 5 So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift2 you have promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction.3 The Cheerful Giver 6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully4 will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency5 in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 9 As it is written,   “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;    his righteousness endures forever.” 10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. 12 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. 13 By their approval of this service, they6 will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, 14 while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. 15 Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift! Paul Defends His Ministry 10 I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!—2 I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 6 being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. 7 Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ's, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ's, so also are we. 8 For even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed. 9 I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. 10 For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.” 11 Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present. 12 Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding. 13 But we will not boast beyond limits, but will boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, to reach even to you. 14 For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you. For we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. 15 We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others. But our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged, 16 so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another's area of influence. 17 “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 18 For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. Footnotes [1] 9:3 Or I have sent [2] 9:5 Greek blessing; twice in this verse [3] 9:5 Or a gift expecting something in return; Greek greed [4] 9:6 Greek with blessings; twice in this verse [5] 9:8 Or all contentment [6] 9:13 Or you (ESV)

Old Testament: 1 Samuel 17 1 Samuel 17 (Listen) David and Goliath 17 Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. 2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines. 3 And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. 4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six1 cubits2 and a span. 5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels3 of bronze. 6 And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And his shield-bearer went before him. 8 He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” 10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. 12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years.4 13 The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14 David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. 16 For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening. 17 And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah5 of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers. 18 Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.” 19 Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20 And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry. 21 And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. 22 And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers. 23 As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him. 24 All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid. 25 And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel.” 26 And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” 27 And the people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.” 28 Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.” 29 And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?” 30 And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before. 31 When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. 32 And David said to Saul, “Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 36 Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you!” 38 Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, 39 and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine. 41 And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42 And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. 43 And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” 45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hand.” 48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. 50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. 52 And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath6 and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. 53 And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. 54 And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent. 55 As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.” 56 And the king said, “Inquire whose son the boy is.” 57 And as soon as David returned from the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58 And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.” Footnotes [1] 17:4 Hebrew; Septuagint, Dead Sea Scroll and Josephus four [2] 17:4 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters [3] 17:5 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams [4] 17:12 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew advanced among men [5] 17:17 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters [6] 17:52 Septuagint; Hebrew Gai (ESV) New Testament: Acts 8 Acts 8 (Listen) Saul Ravages the Church 8 And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Philip Proclaims Christ in Samaria 4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city1 of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was much joy in that city. Simon the Magician Believes 9 But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. 10 They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” 11 And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles2 performed, he was amazed. 14 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall3 of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” 24 And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.” 25 Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south4 to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:   “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter    and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,    so he opens not his mouth.33   In his humiliation justice was denied him.    Who can describe his generation?  For his life is taken away from the earth.” 34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”5 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. Footnotes [1] 8:5 Some manuscripts a city [2] 8:13 Greek works of power [3] 8:23 That is, a bitter fluid secreted by the liver; bile [4] 8:26 Or go at about noon [5] 8:36 Some manuscripts add all or most of verse 37: And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 119:49–56 Psalm 119:49–56 (Listen) Zayin 49   Remember your word to your servant,    in which you have made me hope.50   This is my comfort in my affliction,    that your promise gives me life.51   The insolent utterly deride me,    but I do not turn away from your law.52   When I think of your rules from of old,    I take comfort, O LORD.53   Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked,    who forsake your law.54   Your statutes have been my songs    in the house of my sojourning.55   I remember your name in the night, O LORD,    and keep your law.56   This blessing has fallen to me,    that I have kept your precepts. (ESV) Proverb: Proverbs 15:33 Proverbs 15:33 (Listen) 33   The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom,    and humility comes before honor. (ESV)

In Romans 3:3, the apostle Paul wrote the following about Israel: For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? The early church understood the importance of caring for God's covenant people. Today, the majority of Christians in the world are passive regarding God's everlasting covenant with Israel, or worse, willfully rejecting it. Join Amir as he makes the case biblically as to why Christians should support Israel. Support this podcast

Isaiah 43 (NIV) Israel's Only Savior 43 But now, this is what the Lord says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. 3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush[a] and Seba in your stead. 4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life. 5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. 6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!' and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.' Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth— 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” 8 Lead out those who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are deaf. 9 All the nations gather together and the peoples assemble. Which of their gods foretold this and proclaimed to us the former things? Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right, so that others may hear and say, “It is true.” 10 “You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. 11 I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior. 12 I have revealed and saved and proclaimed— I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “that I am God. 13 Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?” God's Mercy and Israel's Unfaithfulness 14 This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I will send to Babylon and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians,[b] in the ships in which they took pride. 15 I am the Lord, your Holy One, Israel's Creator, your King.” 16 This is what the Lord says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, 17 who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: 18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. 20 The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, 21 the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise. 22 “Yet you have not called on me, Jacob, you have not wearied yourselves for[c] me, Israel. 23 You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings, nor honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with grain offerings nor wearied you with demands for incense. 24 You have not bought any fragrant calamus for me, or lavished on me the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your offenses. 25 “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. 26 Review the past for me, let us argue the matter together; state the case for your innocence. 27 Your first father sinned; those I sent to teach you rebelled against me. 28 So I disgraced the dignitaries of your temple; I consigned Jacob to destruction[d] and Israel to scorn. Footnotes: [a] Isaiah 43:3 That is, the upper Nile region [b] Isaiah 43:14 Or Chaldeans [c] Isaiah 43:22 Or Jacob; / surely you have grown weary of [d] Isaiah 43:28 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them. Isaiah 44 (NIV) Israel the Chosen 1 “But now listen, Jacob, my servant, Israel, whom I have chosen. 2 This is what the Lord says— he who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you: Do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant, Jeshurun,[a] whom I have chosen. 3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. 4 They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams. 5 Some will say, ‘I belong to the Lord'; others will call themselves by the name of Jacob; still others will write on their hand, ‘The Lord's,' and will take the name Israel. The Lord, Not Idols 6 “This is what the Lord says— Israel's King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. 7 Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come— yes, let them foretell what will come. 8 Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.” 9 All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Those who would speak up for them are blind; they are ignorant, to their own shame. 10 Who shapes a god and casts an idol, which can profit nothing? 11 People who do that will be put to shame; such craftsmen are only human beings. Let them all come together and take their stand; they will be brought down to terror and shame. 12 The blacksmith takes a tool and works with it in the coals; he shapes an idol with hammers, he forges it with the might of his arm. He gets hungry and loses his strength; he drinks no water and grows faint. 13 The carpenter measures with a line and makes an outline with a marker; he roughs it out with chisels and marks it with compasses. He shapes it in human form, human form in all its glory, that it may dwell in a shrine. 14 He cut down cedars, or perhaps took a cypress or oak. He let it grow among the trees of the forest, or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow. 15 It is used as fuel for burning; some of it he takes and warms himself, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. But he also fashions a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. 16 Half of the wood he burns in the fire; over it he prepares his meal, he roasts his meat and eats his fill. He also warms himself and says, “Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.” 17 From the rest he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships. He prays to it and says, “Save me! You are my god!” 18 They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand. 19 No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, “Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?” 20 Such a person feeds on ashes; a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?” 21 “Remember these things, Jacob, for you, Israel, are my servant. I have made you, you are my servant; Israel, I will not forget you. 22 I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.” 23 Sing for joy, you heavens, for the Lord has done this; shout aloud, you earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains, you forests and all your trees, for the Lord has redeemed Jacob, he displays his glory in Israel. Jerusalem to Be Inhabited 24 “This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the Lord, the Maker of all things, who stretches out the heavens, who spreads out the earth by myself, 25 who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense, 26 who carries out the words of his servants and fulfills the predictions of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be inhabited,' of the towns of Judah, ‘They shall be rebuilt,' and of their ruins, ‘I will restore them,' 27 who says to the watery deep, ‘Be dry, and I will dry up your streams,' 28 who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,” and of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.”' Footnotes: [a] Isaiah 44:2 Jeshurun means the upright one, that is, Israel.

1 Samuel 17Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines. And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And his shield-bearer went before him. He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” And the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years. The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul, but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers.Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.”Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry. And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers. As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him.All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid.And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel.” And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”And the people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.”Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.” And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?” And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before.When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. And David said to Saul, “Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand.”When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp.And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.” And the king said, “Inquire whose son the boy is.” And as soon as David returned from the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”English Standard Version (ESV)The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.Permalink

Southridge Church is on a mission to be the perfect place for imperfect people to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ--impacting lives around the corner and around the world. Experience impactful teaching and incredible music at Southridge Church Sunday mornings at 9:00 and 11:00, plus experience Catalyst on Wednesdays at 6:30pm! Connect on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram: SRCWV www.southridge.org We Before Me. We Are Better Together. We Never Stop Growing. Contact a pastor: @PastorScottBeha @michaelcoker85 Sermon Notes Wednesday, February 5th Don’t let your past designate your future! We have the promise of what He is going to do! Isaiah 43:14-15 NIV 14 This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I will send to Babylon and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians,[b] in the ships in which they took pride. 15 I am the Lord, your Holy One, Israel’s Creator, your King.” We have the reminder of what He has done! Isaiah 43:16-17 NIV 16 This is what the Lord says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, 17 who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: We have what He wants to do now and we need to do to be a part of it. Isaiah 43:18-19 NIV 18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Dwelling on the past can keep you from what you need in the future. 2 Timothy 4:7 NIV 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. The one thing that God wants from us is our FAITHFULNESS. Dwelling in your past can keep you down in the pit! Isaiah 43:18-19 NIV 18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Lamentations 3:22-23 NIV 22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Do you have the joy of the King of Israel? For the truth of Christmas- the birth of Christ. Do you have the peace and comfort of Christ in salvation?

Haaretz-writer and media-whiz Ohad Zeltzer-Zubida, Allison Kaplan Sommer, and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Looking for the extra segment? Is Netanyahu Done? Hemingway said, folks go bankrupt gradually, then all at once. Has PM Netanyahu lost his political power in the same way? Brits, Canucks, Aussies, Kiwis, Saffers, Rhodies, Paddies, Scots & Yanks There's a new group aiming to politically empower English-speaking Israelis, on the theory that we’ve got a thing or two to teach everyone else. Do Israel’s Brits, Yanks and Aussies offer a way out of the country’s political mess? Boys on TV What are we to make of the heart-rending Israeli HBO series about the 2014 murders of Jewish kids by Palestinians and a Muslim kid by Jews, that forces us to doubt a lot of what we thought about ourselves? Does HBOs “Our Boys” challenge everything we thought we knew about ourselves? Our Favorite Getaway Spots in Israel For our most extremely generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra segment, we jammer about some of our favorite vacation spots in Israel. All this and the uncategorizable vocal genius of Faye Shapiro! Music Faye Shapiro, in honor of her brand new, first album, Elef Nishikot Shabbat Shalom Lamah Hitahavti? Simi Libech Adamhuu

Roving Mid-East Reporter Naomi Zeveloff, Tel Aviv Review host Gilad Halpern and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Looking for the extra segment? The Elephant Has Left the Building One thing not being debated ahead of Israel’s elections is the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The elephant in the room seems to have left the building. Why? The Autocrat Whisperer Does Prime Minister Netanyahu want voters to see him as an “autocrat whisperer”? Bussed Are the Right, for Theirs Are the Beaches and Cinemas There is a revolution underway, bringing public transportation to Israeli cities on the Sabbath for the first time ever. Why is the Likud leading the charge? The Great Renaissance of English Language Media in Israel For our most extremely generous Patreon supporters, we discuss with author Gilad Halpern his latest Tel Aviv Review of Books essay arguing that, as international media collapsed around us, English language media in Israel had a great renaissance. What accounts for this surprising development? All this and the Ethiopian-Mizrahi pop of Moti Taka. Music Moti Taka Ba Li Lirkod (בא לי לרקוד) Boom Boom (בום בום) Tukur (טוקור) Hitahavti ba-Ketzinah Sheli (התאהבתי בקצינה שלי)

1. David knew who he was.1 Samuel 17:10 (NLT) I defy the armies of Israel today! Send me a man who will fight me!"9 If he kills me, then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves!1 Samuel 17:26 (NKJV) Then David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, "What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who [is] this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?"Romans 2:29 (NLT) No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God's Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.Too many Christians identify with the old them. David believed the covenant more than his circumstances.Popeye video here.Your spinach (God’s Word) is the answer, but you have to PUT IT IN YOUR MOUTH.Confession: (on screen to read together)“I may not deserve it, but Jesus, who never sinned, was made sin for me and I have become the righteousness of God in Christ. My standing with God is secure and and because of Jesus I have a right to the promises of God.Jesus is my peace, and I command the storms in my life; “peace, be still.”Jesus himself took my sicknesses and carried my infirmities, therefore I believe that I’m healed by His stripes.I give and it is given to me, therefore I declare all my needs are met according to Jesus riches in heaven. I am not alone in my fight, because Jesus promised He would never leave me or forsake me.I am His sheep, I know his voice and he will lead and direct me in all wisdom and truth.No evil shall befall me, neither shall any plague come near my home and family, including Oklahoma tornados!I am the head and not the tail.I am above only and not beneath.I am blessed coming in and blessed going out.And everything I set my hands to will prosper, in Jesus name.”Bodda Book, Bodda Boom.2. David knew who He was.2 Samuel 6:20 (NLT) When David returned home to bless his own family, Michal, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet him. She said in disgust, "How distinguished the king of Israel looked today, shamelessly exposing himself to the servant girls like any vulgar person might do!"Jesus had to buy His bride with a price. It cost him to purchase you. You belong to Him.23 So Michal, the daughter of Saul, remained childless throughout her entire life.

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Don Futterman and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Looking for the extra segment? The Center Will Hold? Avigdor Lieberman – head of the secular, right-wing Yisraeli Beiteinu Party – made a bombshell announcement that, after our do-over elections, he will force the Likud and Blue-and-White parties to form a centrist, secular “National Unity Government.” Has Israel’s next government just been formed? Hard Night for Sara Sara Netanyahu pleads guilty to ordering expensive take-out food to the Prime Minister’s residence, ending an ugly four year investigation and trial. What should we make of this whole pathetic affair? A Contrarian Century Ha’aretz celebrates a century of cheesing people off. What impact does this indispensable, infuriating newspaper have on Israeli politics? The Mainstreaming of the LGBTQ Movement in Israel For our most extremely generous Patreon supporters, we discuss in our extra-special, special extra segment the quick spread of LGBTQ parades, events and public presence from Israel’s big cities to, well, most everywhere. What accounts for mainstreaming of the LGBTQ movement, and what does it augur? All this and the newlywed poppiness of Ben Zini ve-Taylor. Music Ben Zini ve-Taylor: Hey Tay (היי טיי) Tay (טיי) Minimor (מיינימור) Nisikhah Sheli (נסיכה שלי)

New International Version (NIV)Lead out those who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are deaf.All the nations gather together and the peoples assemble.Which of their gods foretold this and proclaimed to us the former things?Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right, so that others may hear and say, “It is true.”“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen,so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he.Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior.I have revealed and saved and proclaimed— I, and not some foreign god among you.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?”This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:“For your sake I will send to Babylon and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians, in the ships in which they took pride.I am the Lord, your Holy One, Israel’s Creator, your King.”

What is the lesson from the High Priest offering a sin offering in the presence of the elders and the community of Israel For more information about Rabbi Danny, please visit www.RabbiDanny.com The opening and closing music for this podcast is Coming Out of the Dark by Matt Stamm. How do you listen to Two […]

  Born: 313 AD, Caesarea Maritima, Israel Died: March 18, 386 AD, Jerusalem, Israel For more on St. Cyril and his teachings Cyril of Jerusalem – Catechetical Lectures From Vatican.va, an excerpt from the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI  General Audience 2007: Taken as a whole, Cyril’s homilies form a systematic catechesis on the Christian’s ... Read more The post DC-V4 St. Cyril of Jerusalem – The Doctors of the Church w/ Dr. Matthew Bunson – Video Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

  Born: 313 AD, Caesarea Maritima, Israel Died: March 18, 386 AD, Jerusalem, Israel For more on St. Cyril and his teachings Cyril of Jerusalem – Catechetical Lectures From Vatican.va, an excerpt from the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI  General Audience 2007: Taken as a whole, Cyril’s homilies form a systematic catechesis on the Christian’s ... Read more The post DC-V4 St. Cyril of Jerusalem – The Doctors of the Church w/ Dr. Matthew Bunson – Video Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

1 Samuel 17 David and Goliath 17 Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle; they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. 2 Saul and the Israelites gathered and encamped in the valley of Elah, and formed ranks against the Philistines. 3 The Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. 4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six[a] cubits and a span. 5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. 6 He had greaves of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and his shield-bearer went before him. 8 He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” 10 And the Philistine said, “Today I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. 12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years.[b] 13 The three eldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle; the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14 David was the youngest; the three eldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. 16 For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening. 17 Jesse said to his son David, “Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers; 18 also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See how your brothers fare, and bring some token from them.” 19 Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20 David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, took the provisions, and went as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the encampment as the army was going forth to the battle line, shouting the war cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. 22 David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage, ran to the ranks, and went and greeted his brothers. 23 As he talked with them, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him. 24 All the Israelites, when they saw the man, fled from him and were very much afraid. 25 The Israelites said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. The king will greatly enrich the man who kills him, and will give him his daughter and make his family free in Israel.” 26 David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine, and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” 27 The people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done for the man who kills him.”

Is there a link between the Ten Tribes and Christianity? In this session, Eddie dives into the book of Hosea, as it is written to the Northern kingdom. The names of the children of Hosea and Gomer prophesy to the judgments that Yahweh would bring upon the Northern kingdom. Hosea then speaks forth words of comfort and speaks out a prophecy about the future redemption and restoration of the Northern Kingdom. Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God. Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel. Hosea 1:10-11 A sign of the end of days is that Ephraim will have a love for Torah. We formerly call Ephraim’s love for Torah “The Hebrew Roots Community”. Who are the “sons of the living God?” They are those who have turned to Yeshua as their savior and who have returned to Yeshua’s Torah! That is the link between the Ten Tribes and Christianity! (John 1:12-13) Let’s summarize: *the prophets of Israel allude to Christianity *the name of the children born to Hosea and Gomer foreshadow and prophesy to the judgments that come upon the Northern kingdom *The restoration and redemption of the Northern kingdom comes through the Messiah *Yeshua died on the tree to gather the exiles of Israel For more Eddie Chumney teachings and beautiful worship music, visit us at our internet streaming radio station; http://hebrootsradio.com. Visit our home page at http://hebroots.com Are you being blessed by these teachings? Please consider making a donation at http://hebroots.com and click the donate button. Thank you for listening!

Is there not a cause?Rom. 15:4 4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.1 Cor. 10:11 amp. Now these things happened to them as an example and warning [to us]; they were written for our instruction [to admonish and equip us], upon whom the ends of the ages have come.The story of David & Goliath is the story of 2 kings.  The king of fear.The king of faith.1. The king of fear. Saul.1 Sam. 15:24 24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.1 Sam. 17:8-118 Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” 10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.1 Sam. 17:1616 And the Philistine drew near and presented himself forty days, morning and evening.40 days of fear.1 Sam. 17:23-2423 Then as he talked with them, there was the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, coming up from the armies of the Philistines; and he spoke according to the same words. So David heard them. 24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were dreadfully afraid. Same Words. Same Result. Saul and His Army misrepresented God for 40 days. 2. The king of faith. David.1 Sam. 17:2626 Then David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”a. When David showed up. Faith showed up. ‘Is there not a cause?’Jude 1:3-4 3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed… David’s fight was really a fight of faith.There was no faith in the camp.Faith is a big deal. Heb. 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.1 John 5:4-54 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our[your] faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?b. David’s confidence. 1 Sam. 17:32-3732 Then David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.”34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, 35 I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 Moreover David said, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”c. You can’t be someone else. 1 Sam. 17:38-3938 So Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. 39 David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.” So David took them off.Eph. 2:10 You are His workmanship. David was a Shepherd.d. Fear is ruthless.1 Sam. 17:42-4442 And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was only a youth, ruddy and good-looking. 43 So the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 And the Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”3. Real Faith. 1 Sam. 17:45-4745 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47 Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”a.   Faith promotes the King.b.   Faith Runs to the battle.c.   Faith is prepared.d.   Faith has influence.  1 John 5:4-5 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our[your] faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Optima; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Optima; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000; min-height: 14.0px} p.p3 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Optima; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000} li.li1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Optima; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000} span.s1 {font-kerning: none} span.s2 {text-decoration: underline ; font-kerning: none} span.Apple-tab-span {white-space:pre} ol.ol1 {list-style-type: decimal} ol.ol2 {list-style-type: lower-alpha}

Is there not a cause? Rom. 15:4 4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. 1 Cor. 10:11 amp. Now these things happened to them as an example and warning [to us]; they were written for our instruction [to admonish and equip us], upon whom the ends of the ages have come. The story of David & Goliath is the story of 2 kings.  The king of fear. The king of faith. 1. The king of fear. Saul. 1 Sam. 15:24 24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 1 Sam. 17:8-118 Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.  9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” 10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.”  11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. 1 Sam. 17:1616 And the Philistine drew near and presented himself forty days, morning and evening. 40 days of fear. 1 Sam. 17:23-2423 Then as he talked with them, there was the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, coming up from the armies of the Philistines; and he spoke according to the same words. So David heard them. 24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were dreadfully afraid.  Same Words. Same Result.  Saul and His Army misrepresented God for 40 days.  2. The king of faith. David. 1 Sam. 17:2626 Then David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” a. When David showed up. Faith showed up.  ‘Is there not a cause?’ Jude 1:3-4 3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed…  David’s fight was really a fight of faith. There was no faith in the camp. Faith is a big deal.  Heb. 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. 1 John 5:4-54 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our[your] faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? b. David’s confidence.  1 Sam. 17:32-3732 Then David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, 35 I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it.  36 Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.”  37 Moreover David said, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!” c. You can

The Invincibility of God is the basis for our Assurance Isaiah 43:8-44:5 October 9, 2016 Pastor Tony Felich     ----more----        Isaiah 43:11-15 [11] I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior. [12] I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and I am God. [13] Also henceforth I am he; there is none who can deliver from my hand; I work, and who can turn it back?” [14] Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I send to Babylon and bring them all down as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice. [15] I am the LORD, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.”             God is working an unstoppable plan for his purposes which is a benefit to all who are rightly related to Him. This should give every believer a strong sense of assurance about God’s care for them. Such assurance empowers us to do a great many things.   The invincibility of God is your (the believer’s) friend! (43:8-15)   The purposes of God are perfect and pointed (43:16-26)   God’s purpose and power is personal (43:27-44:5)

Based on: Joel 3:1-9 As we move ever closer to the time of Daniel's last week or 7 years of human history, under gentile governmental rule, we move ever closer to the time when the earth will be engulfed in war and terror as events on the ground and in the geopolitical realms bring about the fulfillment of Bible prophecy as Joel 3 warns! The prophet Joel saw a time when The Lord would finally say enough is enough and The Lord would go to war with the gentile nations for the abuse, at their hands, of His people, the Jews. Based on what we see today, Germany pulling away from Israel, along with other world powers, especially the UN, The USA, Russia, China, The UK and now Canada and nations I have not mentioned but are easily searched out on Google, we are moving very close to that time when The Lord will go to war with all the nations. That's right, not a few nations but all the nations. The issue over the Golan Heights and "The World Wanting Israel to Surrender the Golan and let's not forget about the world powers wanting Israel to divide Jerusalem as well as the division of the land of Israel, is an exasperating situation. The day is coming when the PM of Israel will not be Bibi Netanyahu, but someone else will occupy that office and the "Man of Sin," the Antichrist will make that person a deal they can't refuse and the end will be upon the entire world! So what are we to do now? Stay in The Word of God, stay in prayer, worship The Lord and be willing to do His will, be obedient to His calling in our lives. By following The Lord in faith, trust, love and obedience, He will take care of all things, including you and me. Allow me to close with this thought. Israel and the Jews will NEVER cease from existing and being a light to the nations to which they were called 4,000 years ago! Here's what the Lord has to say about this and God's promised ALWAYS come to pass! [Jeremiah 31:34-37] No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (The LORD of hosts is His name): “If those ordinances depart From before Me, says the LORD, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease From being a nation before Me forever.” Thus says the LORD: “If heaven above can be measured, And the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel For all that they have done, says the LORD. In other words, when you look up into the night's sky remember the promise God has made to His people! They will always be with us. Thus says The Lord! Thinking about God's love and promises to the Jews and Israel reminds me of how much He loves you and me. Have you strayed from The Lord? Won't you consider falling into His loving arms where there is grace, love and forgiveness for you today? I hope you take a moment and talk with The Lord of love, grace, mercy and forgiveness today! God Bless You and Yours... Watch and Listen to Dr. David Jeremiah: When America Would Turn Her Back. https://youtu.be/kPD-2LzdCzA Here's The Headlines: -Germany beginning to distance itself from Israel: http://reut.rs/1NMnbd4 -The G7 wants the Golan given to Syria and in the latest peace proposal they snuck in the Golan as a gift to Syria. Bibi is furious! http://www.timesofisrael.com/peace-deal-draft-defining-golan-as-syrian-triggers-fury-in-jerusalem/ An Unusual Alliance: http://goo.gl/wX2Hg0 Israel Strikes Big Oil in Golan: https://www.rt.com/business/317906-oil-golan-heights-israel Keep looking up because Jesus is coming back soon! Remember to live out your faith... Until next time God willing, Bro Stef "Watchman" Ez...

Based on: Joel 3:1-9 As we move ever closer to the time of Daniel's last week or 7 years of human history, under gentile governmental rule, we move ever closer to the time when the earth will be engulfed in war and terror as events on the ground and in the geopolitical realms bring about the fulfillment of Bible prophecy as Joel 3 warns! The prophet Joel saw a time when The Lord would finally say enough is enough and The Lord would go to war with the gentile nations for the abuse, at their hands, of His people, the Jews. Based on what we see today, Germany pulling away from Israel, along with other world powers, especially the UN, The USA, Russia, China, The UK and now Canada and nations I have not mentioned but are easily searched out on Google, we are moving very close to that time when The Lord will go to war with all the nations. That's right, not a few nations but all the nations. The issue over the Golan Heights and "The World Wanting Israel to Surrender the Golan and let's not forget about the world powers wanting Israel to divide Jerusalem as well as the division of the land of Israel, is an exasperating situation. The day is coming when the PM of Israel will not be Bibi Netanyahu, but someone else will occupy that office and the "Man of Sin," the Antichrist will make that person a deal they can't refuse and the end will be upon the entire world! So what are we to do now? Stay in The Word of God, stay in prayer, worship The Lord and be willing to do His will, be obedient to His calling in our lives. By following The Lord in faith, trust, love and obedience, He will take care of all things, including you and me. Allow me to close with this thought. Israel and the Jews will NEVER cease from existing and being a light to the nations to which they were called 4,000 years ago! Here's what the Lord has to say about this and God's promised ALWAYS come to pass! [Jeremiah 31:34-37] No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (The LORD of hosts is His name): “If those ordinances depart From before Me, says the LORD, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease From being a nation before Me forever.” Thus says the LORD: “If heaven above can be measured, And the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel For all that they have done, says the LORD. In other words, when you look up into the night's sky remember the promise God has made to His people! They will always be with us. Thus says The Lord! Thinking about God's love and promises to the Jews and Israel reminds me of how much He loves you and me. Have you strayed from The Lord? Won't you consider falling into His loving arms where there is grace, love and forgiveness for you today? I hope you take a moment and talk with The Lord of love, grace, mercy and forgiveness today! God Bless You and Yours... Watch and Listen to Dr. David Jeremiah: When America Would Turn Her Back. https://youtu.be/kPD-2LzdCzA Here's The Headlines: -Germany beginning to distance itself from Israel: http://reut.rs/1NMnbd4 -The G7 wants the Golan given to Syria and in the latest peace proposal they snuck in the Golan as a gift to Syria. Bibi is furious! http://www.timesofisrael.com/peace-deal-draft-defining-golan-as-syrian-triggers-fury-in-jerusalem/ An Unusual Alliance: http://goo.gl/wX2Hg0 Israel Strikes Big Oil in Golan: https://www.rt.com/business/317906-oil-golan-heights-israel Keep looking up because Jesus is coming back soon! Remember to live out your faith... Until next time God willing, Bro Stef "Watchman" Ezeki --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/brostef/support

Today we play a portion of the Dividing Line with Dr. White, who takes calls from listeners. And I read some quotes from other Calvinists with questions on social media. Professor Flowers answers the question about the purpose for which Israel was elected and questions why Calvinists are making all the fuss about the use of the phrase: "noble cause/purpose?"   Why did God elect Israel? For what purpose? For what cause were they selected? Let's dive in. To join the discussion go to www.soteriology101.com

 PODCAST SATELLITETHE VOICE OF ISRAEL4 CHESHVAN 5775  Prince HandleyUniversity of ExcellencePresident / Regent  BABYLON, WHORE OF THE GOYIM  THE ENEMY OF ISRAEL  הזונה של הגויים  ~ A MESSAGE TO BENYAMIN NETANYAHU ~ You can listen to this message NOW. Click on the pod circle at top left. (Allow images to display.)  Or, LISTEN HERE  Email this message to a friend.  Subscribe to this Ezine teaching by Email: princehandley@gmail.com (Type “Subscribe” in the “Subject” line.)  24/7 release of Prince Handley teachings, BLOGS and podcasts > STREAM  Text: “follow princehandley” to 40404 (in USA) Or, Twitter: princehandley  _____________________________________________________________  DESCRIPTION:  It has been estimated that the Nazi Holocaust killed one Jew in three. The worst is yet to come. The next – and, soon coming – Holocaust will take two out of three Jews. “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my G-d.” Tanakh: Zechariah 13:7-9 In this podcast teaching I am going to quickly share with you how the enemy of Israel – Satan – will try to juxtaposition Babylon (a real city) in opposition to Jerusalem. _____________________________________________________________   BABYLON, WHORE OF THE GOYIM  THE ENEMY OF ISRAELהזונה של הגויים ~ A MESSAGE TO BENYAMIN NETANYAHU ~ In this podcast teaching I am going to share with you how the enemy of Israel – Satan – will try to juxtapostion Babylon (a real city) in opposition to Jerusalem. If you understand this, you will be kilometers ahead to the world think tanks ... and,  you will have a perspective from which to analyze real-time prophetic issues. Then, you can act accordingly. This is NOT just a juxtaposition of position (location) ... but of timing as well ... referencing the not-so-distant End Time prophetic events – real time, real events – with the present geopolitical landscape. To develop this postulate I have written a NEW book, Babylon the Bitch - Enemy of Israel where I discuss in detail the following three things: The soon coming – the worst – Jewish Holocaust;  Babylon – the New World Order's – substitute for Jerusalem; and,  The only game plan – that will work – for Israel's Jewry. Bibi Netanyahu, you're doing a good job … you're in a tough position; however, I have a suggestion. Be less influenced by your enemies, both at home and abroad: including the UN, NATO, the UN Security Council and Obama (not to mention Egypt and the Saudis). Listen to G-d and obey. The LORD is your Commander and, actually, the only One to Whom you have to answer. Bibi, remember what I warned Israel about in 2008? I said in August, 2008, NOT be deceived by (then) current peace talks by Olmert and Assad. At that time Obama and USwanted to force Israel into negotiations with Damascus. I warned you, Israel, NOT to do it. Listen to (or read show notes of) my podcast: "Israel, New Forces in Middle East Parlance." Also, Bibi, after all my “suggestions / warnings” to you (see The Voice of Israel for the last 8 years) to strike Iran before it's too late – and NOT listen to the USA or their weak leadership – I have been waiting in the wings watching YOU and … like I said … Iran would play the “time” game. Iran is in a BETTER position militarily now as a result of Israel's non-action. You should have followed my several admonitions to take a preemptive strike against Iran. As for Gaza, you should have let the ministers vote on the cease-fire so all could share in the responsibility of the decision. So now … here's your chance, Bibi, to listen and perceive … and “Thanks” again for your service to Israel. THE NEXT JEWISH HOLOCAUST There are several reasons WHY Satan is so focused on the destruction of Israel and the Jewish People. ﭏ G-d loves the Jews and He loves Israel. In Torah, G-d says concerning Israel: “For you are a holy – set apart – people to the LORD your G-d: the LORD your G-d has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.” [Deuteronomy 7:6] “The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) has the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” [Deuteronomy 7:7] ב It was through the Jewish people that G-d inspired and gave the world the Holy Bible: the Tanakh (Jewish Old Covenant) and the Brit Chadashah.(Jewish New Covenant). [The Book of Luke in the New Covenant may have been written by a Gentile but we do not know for sure.] ג It was through the seed line of the Jewish people from which Mashiach was born. Both Yosef and Miryam's family trees trace back to King David. Yosef (the husband of Miryam) has his family line going back to Solomon, son of King David. [See Brit Chadashah, the Book of Mattiyahu – Matthew – Chapter One, verses 1 – 17.] Miryam – the virgin-maiden who conceived miraculously by the Ruach HaKodesh – has her seed line on her father's side going back to Nathan, son of King David. [See the Book of Luke, Chapter Three, verses 23 -31.] Miryam's family tree was recorded – as was Jewish custom – on the men's side of the family, so it started with Yosef's father-in-law, Eli. [Editor'sNote: Verse 23,”Yeshua was about thirty years old when he began his public ministry. It was supposed that he was a son of Yosef who was of Eli.”] At any time, anyone who opposed Yeshua – concerning him being the Messiah – could have gone to the Temple (similar to local courthouse records today) and proven Him false if He were. That was one thing of which the religious leaders NEVER accused Yeshua.  His credentials were EXACT:  Messiah, Son of  David … . ד It was the Mashiach of Israel who HEALED the separation between G-d and man as a result of Adam's “fall” in the Garden of Eden. The eternal BLOOD of the Everlasting Covenant paid for the sins of a fallen human race. The Lamb of G-d – the Mashiach – took our sins upon Him [as Isaiah the Prophet foretold 700 years before] and … “by His stripes we are healed.”    אָכֵ֤ן חֳלָיֵ֙נוּ֙ ה֣וּא נָשָׂ֔א וּמַכְאֹבֵ֖ינוּ סְבָלָ֑ם וַאֲנַ֣חְנוּ חֲשַׁבְנֻ֔הוּ נָג֛וּעַ מֻכֵּ֥ה אֱלֹהִ֖ים וּמְעֻנֶּֽה׃   וְהוּא֙ מְחֹלָ֣ל מִפְּשָׁעֵ֔נוּ מְדֻכָּ֖א מֵעֲוֹנֹתֵ֑ינוּ מוּסַ֤ר שְׁלֹומֵ֙נוּ֙ עָלָ֔יו וּבַחֲבֻרָתֹ֖ו נִרְפָּא־לָֽנו  “In fact, it was our diseases he bore, our pains from which he suffered; yet we regarded him as punished, stricken and afflicted by G-d. But he was wounded because of our crimes, crushed because of our sins; the disciplining that makes us whole fell on him, and by his bruises [stripes] we are healed.” [Tanakh: Isaiah 53:4-5] His blood was holy. He was perfect G-d and perfect man. Born of a virgin – through a miracle of the Ruach HaKodesh – His blood did not contain sin from an earthly father in Adam's seedline. Yeshua came from the Father G-d. To this Man the ancient Rabbis testify. This blood from the Lamb of G-d, poured out for me and for you, is sufficient atonement – payment and covering – for our souls. [Torah: Leviticus 17:11] ה Messiah will NOT return again until Israel acknowledges Him and invites Him – pleads with Him – to come and bring deliverance. Then, the Deliverer will come to Zion. It is very plain … If Satan can wipe out the Jews and Israel, the Mashiach can NOT return! “I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me earnestly.” [Tanakh: Hosea 5:15] EDITOR'S NOTE: He (Mashiach) could NOT return to His place (in Heaven, with the Father G-d) unless He had been to earth previously (the first time). The “affliction” spoken of will be the Time of Jacob's Trouble.“Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Ya‘akov's [Jacob's] trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” [Tanakh: Jeremiah 30:7] This will be last half (42 months) during the Seven Year Covenant that Israel will make with the Palestinians. At the very end of the seven years Mashiach will return when the Jewish people invite Him – plead with Him – to return. Those last three and one-half years (42 months) of the Seven Year Peace Treaty will be worse than the Nazi Holocaust … especially for those Jews living in אֵזוֹר יְהוּדָה וְשׁוֹמְרוֹן[Ezor Yehuda VeShomron – Judea and Samaria, or יו"ש … the West Bank]. Every Israeli – and every Jewish person – should read, Map of the End Times, by Prince Handley. Also, study the companion book, Flow Chart of Revelation. Both of these books are available at Amazon and other book stores in both e-Book and Paperback. [Editor's Note: See the FREE OFFER at the end of this report.] ו When Messiah comes – as King – He will destroy the enemies of Israel and set up His earthly Kingdom, ruling from Jerusalem.He will deliver His people. “In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem … It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.” [Tanakh: Zechariah 12:8-9]  “I will destroy the strength of the goyim kingdoms.” (Tanakh: Haggai 2:22]  “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” [Tanakh: Zechariah 12:10]  “And one will say to him, 'What are these wounds between your hands?' Then he will answer. 'Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.'” [Zechariah 13:6]  “In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.” [ Zechariah 13:1] So now you know WHY Satan hates the Jews and Israel: ﭏ G-d loves the Jews and He loves Israel. ב It was through the Jewish people that G-d inspired and gave the world the Holy Bible. ג It was through the seed line of the Jewish people from which Mashiach was born. ד It was the Mashiach of Israel who who HEALED the separation between G-d and man as a result of Adam's “fall” in the Garden of Eden. ה Messiah will NOT come [return again] until Israel acknowledges Him and invites Him – pleads with Him – to come and bring deliverance. Then, the Deliverer will come to Zion. If Satan can wipe out the Jews and Israel, the Mashiach can NOT return! ו When Messiah comes – as King – He will destroy the enemies of Israel and set up His earthly Kingdom, ruling from Jerusalem. Now you know WHY the Jews – and Israel – have suffered and been opposed so much throughout history. And … now you know WHY the Jews are back in Eretz Israel after nearly 2,000 years of dispersion. It is time for Mashiach to come to Israel and set up His Messianic Kingdom. But – before He returns – the worst Holocaust the Jews have ever experienced will happen: the Prophet Jeremiah called it the Time of Jacob's Trouble. What you are seeing and hearing in the news is the "sign" of the preparation of Israel for a great spiritual awakening in which multitudes of Jews turn to Mashiach Yeshua during the worst Holocaust the Jews have ever known. The enemy of Israel – Satan – will try to juxtaposition Babylon (a real city) in opposition to Jerusalem: both spiritually and physically. Most people do NOT realize that the KEY enemy of Israel has clandestine architectural and strategic – as well as spiritual – plans against Israel. Plans that include much more than Iran or ISIS or the United Nations. This is NOT just a juxtaposition of position, but of timing as well. Referencing the not-so-distant End Time prophetic events ― real time, real events — with the present geopolitical landscape. To help you, Bibi, and Israel, and my gentile friends understand what is really happening behind the scenes – in a geopolitical and spiritual underpinning – I have written a NEW book titled, Babylon the Bitch – Enemy of Israel. It will help you understand: The soon coming – the worst – Jewish Holocaust; Babylon – New World Order substitute – for Jerusalem; and, The only game plan – that will work – for Israel. In particular, you will learn “survival mode” for Israelis by using the “Game Plan” included. As in any military tactics – especially for God's People – you need to know from where the source of supply is coming … and, especially if you can obtain intel – what specific plans are being implemented for your demise. I have provided just that for you in this book. BABYLON, CAPITAL OF THE NEW GLOBAL GOVERNMENT Islam will likely be the catalyst which will bring about the one world government. Muslim terrorism is now global. You will begin to see the loss of your right to privacy. Israel and the USA will be the key targets of this attack. Islamic terrorism will be the active agent to frighten people into wanting New Global Governance. The Koran instructs Muslims to kill non-Muslims (Jews and Christians). In exchange for being allowed to build her Temple, Israel will sign a peace treaty with the coming world leader: the false-messiah. We will review the historic world powers and their treatment of Israel ... and how New Babylon will arise from a 10 region cooperative of REGIONAL leaders who give support to the coming world leader: the False Mashiach. Babylon – whore of the goyim – is just that!I am going to show you certain details of the harlot Babylon that are NOT covered by usual theological exegesis. Babylon, as in the past – so in the future – is the enemy of Israel AND is about to appear on the scene. Without going down “rabbit trails” I am going to show you hidden – previously unrevealed – secrets of geopolitical processes that are – at this present time – being organically systemetized. Make sure you know Mashiach personally. He is returning for sure! Do NOT wait because there will be a strong delusion sent upon the earth and it will be too late then. Pray this prayer: “Father in Heaven, if Yeshua (Jesus) is really my Messiah, then reveal Him to me. I ask Jesus to come into my life right now and to help me live for Him. Please forgive my sins and take me to Heaven when I die. Amen!” We know the following: There were be a legal underpinning of the New World Governance (NWG). There will emerge the leader of the NWG, who will be the False Messiah. There will be a seven year peace treaty between Israel and Palestinians. Israel will be allowed to rebuild her Temple on or near the Temple Mount. Animal sacrifices will be resumed at the Temple. The False Messiah (the Anti-Christ) will select the False Prophet (New Global Religion Leader). The 144,000 Jewish evangelists will be protected by God as they prophesy. There will be TWO witnesses who prophesy from Jerusalem for three and one-half years. In the middle of the seven years, the FALSE-messiah will order the animal sacrifices to stop. The FALSE Messiah will go into the Temple and declare he is G-d. (Daniel 9:27 and Matthew 24:15] He is the “abomination of desolation” that Daniel and Yeshua prophesied concerning. After this, there will be 42 months of the worst Holocaust the Jews have ever known: the Time of Jacob's Trouble (Jeremiah 30:5-7). One-third of the world's remaining population will die (one-fourth already died). This leaves only one-half of the world's population left. During this time, Babylon in Saudi Arabia (a quad city area including Mecca) will become the world center of commerce AND religion New Babylon will be a quad city area. Mecca is 79 kilometers (49 miles) from the Red Sea now, and its ties with Jeddah, King Abdullah Economic City and Medina form an organic union. However, the cities of Jeddah and King Abdullah Economic City are already on the Red Sea coast, fulfilling the prophecy that New Babylon will be a seaport city (Revelation Chapters 17 and 18). Babylon will be supported initially by a 10 region federation similar to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation [OIC]. The final Organization of Islamic States [OIS} will eventually meld Sunnis, Shias and ISIS into one group - but still separated internally. New Babylon will influence world leaders with: 1. Trade; 2. False religion [Islam]; and, 3. Bloodshed of Christians and Jews. Babylon will be destroyed by fire: probably nuclear attack. (Isaiah 21:9, Revelation 18:1-2, Revelation 14:8) Babylon will be burned and destroyed by the same 10 regional Islamic states that originally supported her. (Revelation 17:16-17) Mashiach will return and destroy the enemies of Israel and set up His earthly Kingdom. I did NOT have time in this podcast to even cover the intel involved in the NEW book, Babylon the Bitch - Enemy of Israel. Make sure you order you copy NOW so you will have access to the geopolitical underpinning already designed against Israel … and God's People everywhere. FREE OFFER If you are Jewish and live in Israel, we will send you a FREE copy of the book, Babylon the Bitch: Enemy of Israel AND we will pay the shipping. Just send us a letter by POSTAL mail with your complete Israel POSTAL mailing address (include your Email address, also, for confirmation) to: World Services Box 1001 Bonsall, California 92003 USA Baruch haba b'Shem Adonai. Your friend, Prince Handley President / RegentUniversity of Excellence Podcast time: 24 minutes, 7 seconds. P.S. - Don't forget to tell your friends about the Voice of Israel Podcast. Copyright 2014 Prince Handley All rights reserved _______________   24/7 Prince Handley BLOGS, teachings, and podcasts Click the Dove above __________________________________________________ Rabbinical & Biblical Studies The Believers’ Intelligentsia Prince Handley Portal (1,000’s of FREE resources) Prince Handley Books __________________________________________________

 PODCAST SATELLITETHE VOICE OF ISRAEL4 CHESHVAN 5775  Prince HandleyUniversity of ExcellencePresident / Regent  BABYLON, WHORE OF THE GOYIM  THE ENEMY OF ISRAEL  הזונה של הגויים  ~ A MESSAGE TO BENYAMIN NETANYAHU ~ You can listen to this message NOW. Click on the pod circle at top left. (Allow images to display.)  Or, LISTEN HERE  Email this message to a friend.  Subscribe to this Ezine teaching by Email: princehandley@gmail.com (Type “Subscribe” in the “Subject” line.)  24/7 release of Prince Handley teachings, BLOGS and podcasts > STREAM  Text: “follow princehandley” to 40404 (in USA) Or, Twitter: princehandley  _____________________________________________________________  DESCRIPTION:  It has been estimated that the Nazi Holocaust killed one Jew in three. The worst is yet to come. The next – and, soon coming – Holocaust will take two out of three Jews. “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my G-d.” Tanakh: Zechariah 13:7-9 In this podcast teaching I am going to quickly share with you how the enemy of Israel – Satan – will try to juxtaposition Babylon (a real city) in opposition to Jerusalem. _____________________________________________________________   BABYLON, WHORE OF THE GOYIM  THE ENEMY OF ISRAELהזונה של הגויים ~ A MESSAGE TO BENYAMIN NETANYAHU ~ In this podcast teaching I am going to share with you how the enemy of Israel – Satan – will try to juxtapostion Babylon (a real city) in opposition to Jerusalem. If you understand this, you will be kilometers ahead to the world think tanks ... and,  you will have a perspective from which to analyze real-time prophetic issues. Then, you can act accordingly. This is NOT just a juxtaposition of position (location) ... but of timing as well ... referencing the not-so-distant End Time prophetic events – real time, real events – with the present geopolitical landscape. To develop this postulate I have written a NEW book, Babylon the Bitch - Enemy of Israel where I discuss in detail the following three things: The soon coming – the worst – Jewish Holocaust;  Babylon – the New World Order's – substitute for Jerusalem; and,  The only game plan – that will work – for Israel's Jewry. Bibi Netanyahu, you're doing a good job … you're in a tough position; however, I have a suggestion. Be less influenced by your enemies, both at home and abroad: including the UN, NATO, the UN Security Council and Obama (not to mention Egypt and the Saudis). Listen to G-d and obey. The LORD is your Commander and, actually, the only One to Whom you have to answer. Bibi, remember what I warned Israel about in 2008? I said in August, 2008, NOT be deceived by (then) current peace talks by Olmert and Assad. At that time Obama and USwanted to force Israel into negotiations with Damascus. I warned you, Israel, NOT to do it. Listen to (or read show notes of) my podcast: "Israel, New Forces in Middle East Parlance." Also, Bibi, after all my “suggestions / warnings” to you (see The Voice of Israel for the last 8 years) to strike Iran before it's too late – and NOT listen to the USA or their weak leadership – I have been waiting in the wings watching YOU and … like I said … Iran would play the “time” game. Iran is in a BETTER position militarily now as a result of Israel's non-action. You should have followed my several admonitions to take a preemptive strike against Iran. As for Gaza, you should have let the ministers vote on the cease-fire so all could share in the responsibility of the decision. So now … here's your chance, Bibi, to listen and perceive … and “Thanks” again for your service to Israel. THE NEXT JEWISH HOLOCAUST There are several reasons WHY Satan is so focused on the destruction of Israel and the Jewish People. ﭏ G-d loves the Jews and He loves Israel. In Torah, G-d says concerning Israel: “For you are a holy – set apart – people to the LORD your G-d: the LORD your G-d has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.” [Deuteronomy 7:6] “The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) has the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” [Deuteronomy 7:7] ב It was through the Jewish people that G-d inspired and gave the world the Holy Bible: the Tanakh (Jewish Old Covenant) and the Brit Chadashah.(Jewish New Covenant). [The Book of Luke in the New Covenant may have been written by a Gentile but we do not know for sure.] ג It was through the seed line of the Jewish people from which Mashiach was born. Both Yosef and Miryam's family trees trace back to King David. Yosef (the husband of Miryam) has his family line going back to Solomon, son of King David. [See Brit Chadashah, the Book of Mattiyahu – Matthew – Chapter One, verses 1 – 17.] Miryam – the virgin-maiden who conceived miraculously by the Ruach HaKodesh – has her seed line on her father's side going back to Nathan, son of King David. [See the Book of Luke, Chapter Three, verses 23 -31.] Miryam's family tree was recorded – as was Jewish custom – on the men's side of the family, so it started with Yosef's father-in-law, Eli. [Editor'sNote: Verse 23,”Yeshua was about thirty years old when he began his public ministry. It was supposed that he was a son of Yosef who was of Eli.”] At any time, anyone who opposed Yeshua – concerning him being the Messiah – could have gone to the Temple (similar to local courthouse records today) and proven Him false if He were. That was one thing of which the religious leaders NEVER accused Yeshua.  His credentials were EXACT:  Messiah, Son of  David … . ד It was the Mashiach of Israel who HEALED the separation between G-d and man as a result of Adam's “fall” in the Garden of Eden. The eternal BLOOD of the Everlasting Covenant paid for the sins of a fallen human race. The Lamb of G-d – the Mashiach – took our sins upon Him [as Isaiah the Prophet foretold 700 years before] and … “by His stripes we are healed.”    אָכֵ֤ן חֳלָיֵ֙נוּ֙ ה֣וּא נָשָׂ֔א וּמַכְאֹבֵ֖ינוּ סְבָלָ֑ם וַאֲנַ֣חְנוּ חֲשַׁבְנֻ֔הוּ נָג֛וּעַ מֻכֵּ֥ה אֱלֹהִ֖ים וּמְעֻנֶּֽה׃   וְהוּא֙ מְחֹלָ֣ל מִפְּשָׁעֵ֔נוּ מְדֻכָּ֖א מֵעֲוֹנֹתֵ֑ינוּ מוּסַ֤ר שְׁלֹומֵ֙נוּ֙ עָלָ֔יו וּבַחֲבֻרָתֹ֖ו נִרְפָּא־לָֽנו  “In fact, it was our diseases he bore, our pains from which he suffered; yet we regarded him as punished, stricken and afflicted by G-d. But he was wounded because of our crimes, crushed because of our sins; the disciplining that makes us whole fell on him, and by his bruises [stripes] we are healed.” [Tanakh: Isaiah 53:4-5] His blood was holy. He was perfect G-d and perfect man. Born of a virgin – through a miracle of the Ruach HaKodesh – His blood did not contain sin from an earthly father in Adam's seedline. Yeshua came from the Father G-d. To this Man the ancient Rabbis testify. This blood from the Lamb of G-d, poured out for me and for you, is sufficient atonement – payment and covering – for our souls. [Torah: Leviticus 17:11] ה Messiah will NOT return again until Israel acknowledges Him and invites Him – pleads with Him – to come and bring deliverance. Then, the Deliverer will come to Zion. It is very plain … If Satan can wipe out the Jews and Israel, the Mashiach can NOT return! “I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me earnestly.” [Tanakh: Hosea 5:15] EDITOR'S NOTE: He (Mashiach) could NOT return to His place (in Heaven, with the Father G-d) unless He had been to earth previously (the first time). The “affliction” spoken of will be the Time of Jacob's Trouble.“Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Ya‘akov's [Jacob's] trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” [Tanakh: Jeremiah 30:7] This will be last half (42 months) during the Seven Year Covenant that Israel will make with the Palestinians. At the very end of the seven years Mashiach will return when the Jewish people invite Him – plead with Him – to return. Those last three and one-half years (42 months) of the Seven Year Peace Treaty will be worse than the Nazi Holocaust … especially for those Jews living in אֵזוֹר יְהוּדָה וְשׁוֹמְרוֹן[Ezor Yehuda VeShomron – Judea and Samaria, or יו"ש … the West Bank]. Every Israeli – and every Jewish person – should read, Map of the End Times, by Prince Handley. Also, study the companion book, Flow Chart of Revelation. Both of these books are available at Amazon and other book stores in both e-Book and Paperback. [Editor's Note: See the FREE OFFER at the end of this report.] ו When Messiah comes – as King – He will destroy the enemies of Israel and set up His earthly Kingdom, ruling from Jerusalem.He will deliver His people. “In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem … It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.” [Tanakh: Zechariah 12:8-9]  “I will destroy the strength of the goyim kingdoms.” (Tanakh: Haggai 2:22]  “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” [Tanakh: Zechariah 12:10]  “And one will say to him, 'What are these wounds between your hands?' Then he will answer. 'Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.'” [Zechariah 13:6]  “In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.” [ Zechariah 13:1] So now you know WHY Satan hates the Jews and Israel: ﭏ G-d loves the Jews and He loves Israel. ב It was through the Jewish people that G-d inspired and gave the world the Holy Bible. ג It was through the seed line of the Jewish people from which Mashiach was born. ד It was the Mashiach of Israel who who HEALED the separation between G-d and man as a result of Adam's “fall” in the Garden of Eden. ה Messiah will NOT come [return again] until Israel acknowledges Him and invites Him – pleads with Him – to come and bring deliverance. Then, the Deliverer will come to Zion. If Satan can wipe out the Jews and Israel, the Mashiach can NOT return! ו When Messiah comes – as King – He will destroy the enemies of Israel and set up His earthly Kingdom, ruling from Jerusalem. Now you know WHY the Jews – and Israel – have suffered and been opposed so much throughout history. And … now you know WHY the Jews are back in Eretz Israel after nearly 2,000 years of dispersion. It is time for Mashiach to come to Israel and set up His Messianic Kingdom. But – before He returns – the worst Holocaust the Jews have ever experienced will happen: the Prophet Jeremiah called it the Time of Jacob's Trouble. What you are seeing and hearing in the news is the "sign" of the preparation of Israel for a great spiritual awakening in which multitudes of Jews turn to Mashiach Yeshua during the worst Holocaust the Jews have ever known. The enemy of Israel – Satan – will try to juxtaposition Babylon (a real city) in opposition to Jerusalem: both spiritually and physically. Most people do NOT realize that the KEY enemy of Israel has clandestine architectural and strategic – as well as spiritual – plans against Israel. Plans that include much more than Iran or ISIS or the United Nations. This is NOT just a juxtaposition of position, but of timing as well. Referencing the not-so-distant End Time prophetic events ― real time, real events — with the present geopolitical landscape. To help you, Bibi, and Israel, and my gentile friends understand what is really happening behind the scenes – in a geopolitical and spiritual underpinning – I have written a NEW book titled, Babylon the Bitch – Enemy of Israel. It will help you understand: The soon coming – the worst – Jewish Holocaust; Babylon – New World Order substitute – for Jerusalem; and, The only game plan – that will work – for Israel. In particular, you will learn “survival mode” for Israelis by using the “Game Plan” included. As in any military tactics – especially for God's People – you need to know from where the source of supply is coming … and, especially if you can obtain intel – what specific plans are being implemented for your demise. I have provided just that for you in this book. BABYLON, CAPITAL OF THE NEW GLOBAL GOVERNMENT Islam will likely be the catalyst which will bring about the one world government. Muslim terrorism is now global. You will begin to see the loss of your right to privacy. Israel and the USA will be the key targets of this attack. Islamic terrorism will be the active agent to frighten people into wanting New Global Governance. The Koran instructs Muslims to kill non-Muslims (Jews and Christians). In exchange for being allowed to build her Temple, Israel will sign a peace treaty with the coming world leader: the false-messiah. We will review the historic world powers and their treatment of Israel ... and how New Babylon will arise from a 10 region cooperative of REGIONAL leaders who give support to the coming world leader: the False Mashiach. Babylon – whore of the goyim – is just that!I am going to show you certain details of the harlot Babylon that are NOT covered by usual theological exegesis. Babylon, as in the past – so in the future – is the enemy of Israel AND is about to appear on the scene. Without going down “rabbit trails” I am going to show you hidden – previously unrevealed – secrets of geopolitical processes that are – at this present time – being organically systemetized. Make sure you know Mashiach personally. He is returning for sure! Do NOT wait because there will be a strong delusion sent upon the earth and it will be too late then. Pray this prayer: “Father in Heaven, if Yeshua (Jesus) is really my Messiah, then reveal Him to me. I ask Jesus to come into my life right now and to help me live for Him. Please forgive my sins and take me to Heaven when I die. Amen!” We know the following: There were be a legal underpinning of the New World Governance (NWG). There will emerge the leader of the NWG, who will be the False Messiah. There will be a seven year peace treaty between Israel and Palestinians. Israel will be allowed to rebuild her Temple on or near the Temple Mount. Animal sacrifices will be resumed at the Temple. The False Messiah (the Anti-Christ) will select the False Prophet (New Global Religion Leader). The 144,000 Jewish evangelists will be protected by God as they prophesy. There will be TWO witnesses who prophesy from Jerusalem for three and one-half years. In the middle of the seven years, the FALSE-messiah will order the animal sacrifices to stop. The FALSE Messiah will go into the Temple and declare he is G-d. (Daniel 9:27 and Matthew 24:15] He is the “abomination of desolation” that Daniel and Yeshua prophesied concerning. After this, there will be 42 months of the worst Holocaust the Jews have ever known: the Time of Jacob's Trouble (Jeremiah 30:5-7). One-third of the world's remaining population will die (one-fourth already died). This leaves only one-half of the world's population left. During this time, Babylon in Saudi Arabia (a quad city area including Mecca) will become the world center of commerce AND religion New Babylon will be a quad city area. Mecca is 79 kilometers (49 miles) from the Red Sea now, and its ties with Jeddah, King Abdullah Economic City and Medina form an organic union. However, the cities of Jeddah and King Abdullah Economic City are already on the Red Sea coast, fulfilling the prophecy that New Babylon will be a seaport city (Revelation Chapters 17 and 18). Babylon will be supported initially by a 10 region federation similar to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation [OIC]. The final Organization of Islamic States [OIS} will eventually meld Sunnis, Shias and ISIS into one group - but still separated internally. New Babylon will influence world leaders with: 1. Trade; 2. False religion [Islam]; and, 3. Bloodshed of Christians and Jews. Babylon will be destroyed by fire: probably nuclear attack. (Isaiah 21:9, Revelation 18:1-2, Revelation 14:8) Babylon will be burned and destroyed by the same 10 regional Islamic states that originally supported her. (Revelation 17:16-17) Mashiach will return and destroy the enemies of Israel and set up His earthly Kingdom. I did NOT have time in this podcast to even cover the intel involved in the NEW book, Babylon the Bitch - Enemy of Israel. Make sure you order you copy NOW so you will have access to the geopolitical underpinning already designed against Israel … and God's People everywhere. FREE OFFER If you are Jewish and live in Israel, we will send you a FREE copy of the book, Babylon the Bitch: Enemy of Israel AND we will pay the shipping. Just send us a letter by POSTAL mail with your complete Israel POSTAL mailing address (include your Email address, also, for confirmation) to: World Services Box 1001 Bonsall, California 92003 USA Baruch haba b'Shem Adonai. Your friend, Prince Handley President / RegentUniversity of Excellence Podcast time: 24 minutes, 7 seconds. P.S. - Don't forget to tell your friends about the Voice of Israel Podcast. Copyright 2014 Prince Handley All rights reserved _______________   24/7 Prince Handley BLOGS, teachings, and podcasts Click the Dove above __________________________________________________ Rabbinical & Biblical Studies The Believers’ Intelligentsia Prince Handley Portal (1,000’s of FREE resources) Prince Handley Books __________________________________________________

The Palestinian Covenant: The mystery and true message behind the Palestinian Covenant; Part 2. Friday, March 14, 2008 The Abrahamic covenant emphasizes the race for client nation Israel; the Palestinian covenant emphasizes and reiterates the land for client nation Israel. God revealed His power in the midst of all the cosmic odds against us. God endeavored and accomplished to go and take for Himself a nation of people (the Jews, or Israel) from the midst of another nation (Egypt), by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors. It was in a desert utterly unfriendly to human life that they would also be sustained for forty years. 1. Trials - macot = to try or prove. 2. DEU 4:34 “by signs” - ‘otot = to come near; such signs as God gave them of His continual presence and providence, particularly the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire, keeping near to them night and day, and always directing their journeys, showing them when and where to pitch their tents. 3. DEU 4:34 “and wonders” - mowpªtiym = to persuade; persuasive facts and events. Whether strictly miraculous, and exceeding the powers of nature, or not. It also refers to typical men, raised up by God as types of Christ, and proofs that God would bring His servant The BRANCH. 4. DEU 4:34 “and by war” - milchaamaah = hostile engagements; such as those with the Amalekites, the Amorites, and the Bashanites, in which the hand of God was seen rather than the hand of man. 5. DEU 4:34 “and by a mighty hand” - yaad = one that is strong to deal its blows, irresistible in its operations, and grasps its enemies hard so that they cannot escape, and protects its friends so powerfully that they cannot be injured. DEU 4:34 “and by an outstretched arm” - uwbizrowa` = a series of almighty operations, following each other in quick astonishing succession. a. The finger of God denotes any manifestation of the divine power, where effects are produced beyond the power of art or nature. b. The hand of God signifies the same power, but put forth in a more signal manner. c. The arm of God = the divine omnipotence manifested in the most stupendous miracles. d. The arm of God stretched out = this same omnipotence exerted in a continuation of stupendous miracles, both in the way of judgment and mercy. 7. DEU 4:34 “and by great terrors” - mowraa'iym = such terror, dismay, as were produced by the ten plagues. These were all reminders of the Abrahamic Covenant, and therefore the Palestinian covenant is the reassurance that the Jews would possess the real estate that God promised Abraham. He is speaking of the fact that He knew they were going to rebel; however, He made a provision for that as well. PSA 78:40 How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness, And grieved Him in the desert! The rejection of Israel and the desolation of the promised inheritance were not to be the end of God's dealings with them. The chastisements of God would lead the nation to repent, and thereupon God would again bless them. The “turning again of the captivity” will be when Israel is converted to Him in whom the Law was fulfilled, and who died “not for that nation only,” but also that He might “gather together in one all those who were scattered abroad.” The blessing in this connection can be explained on the ground that Moses was surveying the future generally, in which not only a curse but a blessing also would come upon the nation, according to its attitude towards the Lord as a whole and in its pivot of mature believers. ROM 11:4 But what is the divine response to him? “I have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” Even in times of great apostasy, there would always be a pivot which could not die out. Covenant theology agrees with Islam which is Anti-Jewish. For in the Al Maidah (The Table): “Believers (Muslims), take neither Jews nor Christians to be your friends: they are friends with one another. Whoever of you seeks their friendship Shall become one of their number, and God does not guide (those Jewish and Christian, called “wrong-doers”) 5:51-5:74. According to the Bible Israel is not to be cast off, JER 31:36-37. JER 31:35 Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for light by day, And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The Lord of hosts is His name: JER 31:36 “If this fixed order departs From before Me,” declares the Lord, “Then the offspring of Israel also shall cease From being a nation before Me forever.” JER 31:37 Thus says the Lord, “If the heavens above can be measured, And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel For all that they have done,” declares the Lord. ACT 1:6 And so when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” ACT 1:7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;” JER 32:38-39 And they shall be My people, and I will be their God; and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good, and for {the good of} their children after them. EZE 11:19 And I shall give them one heart, and shall put a new spirit within them. And I shall take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, The Palestinian covenant reaffirms to Israel their title deed to the land of promise. In spite of their unfaithfulness and unbelief, the Palestinian covenant confirms their promised land. 1. The nation will be plucked off the land for its unfaithfulness, DEU 28:63-68; DEU 30:1-3. 2. There will be a future repentance of Israel, DEU 28:63-68; 30:1-3. 3. Their Messiah will return, DEU 30:3-6. 4. Israel will be restored to the land, DEU 30:5. 5. Israel will be converted as a nation, DEU 30:4-8; ROM 11:26-27. 6. Israel's enemies will be judged, DEU 30:7. 7. The nation will then receive her full blessing, DEU 30:9. EZE 16:1-7 - God affirms His love for Israel in her infant stage. EZE 16:8-14 - God reminds Israel that she was chosen and related to Jehovah by marriage, but in EZE 16:15:34 she played the harlot. The punishment of dispersion was dealt to Israel, EZE 16:35-52. This is not the final setting of Israel since there will be restoration, EZE 16:53-63. The restoration is based on the promise, EZE 16:60-62. The church is not Israel, Israel is Israel and therefore God's promises to Israel will be fulfilled, ROM 11:26-27;HOS 2:14-23; DEU 30:6; EZE 11:16-21. 1. Israel must be converted as a nation. 2. Israel must be regathered from her world-wide dispersion and installed in her land. 3. She must witness the judgment of her enemies. 4. She must receive the material blessings graciously promised to her. The conclusion: Don't mess around with Israel! - GEN 12:3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse.