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This week’s Torah portion is called בְּשַׁלַּח  beshallaḥ, which comes from the root word שָׁלַח shalaḥ – Strong’s H7971 which means, ‘to send, bid farewell, let go, put forth, stretch out, direct, urgently send’ and speaks about when it came to be that Pharaoh let the people go – and how he, with urgency, drove them out!.

CHAPTER 13:17-22

Verse 17

Pharaoh let the people go and Elohim didn’t let them go on the short route – why?

Well, if they had encountered fighting along the way, they may have been inclined to go back to Mitsrayim.

Through various archaeological discoveries, it was revealed that the Mitsrians had several military outposts along the Philistine route, that would have a been the ‘shorter’ path; and the danger of these stations would have led Pharaoh to send word to them as soon as he regretted letting Yisra’ĕl go, and Yisra’ĕl would have had to fight through these various military barricades, for which they were not well equipped in being fighters against the world’s leading military force, as they had been ‘slaves’ for a long time!

It is interesting to see how יהוה indeed protects His Promised Bride to be.

In terms of betrothal, there is what one could call a ‘honeymoon’ period:

Deḇarim/Deuteronomy 24:5 “When a man has taken a new wife, let him not go out into the army nor let any matter be imposed upon him. He shall be exempt one year for the sake of his home, to rejoice with his wife whom he has taken.”

In a sense, יהוה was indeed protecting Yisra’ĕl from having to fight battles immediately!

Although what we can see, as being very interesting, is that they came out in military style formation, which we see in the next verse; and the assurance that יהוה fights for them in chapter 14:13!

And so, they were, or should have been, armed with faith!.

Here was a nation who had been delivered by the Mighty Hand of Elohim, yet יהוה knew that if they encountered any threat ahead of them too soon that they would be inclined to turn back.

This in itself carries a very clear and powerful lesson for us, teaching us that there is no ‘quick way’ or ‘shortcut’ in being properly diligent to walking in the commands of Elohim.

And when we too have come out of Mitsrayim, so to speak, we must realise that our journey may take longer than we expect; which is for our own good, lest we fail in our faith and turn back to old ways..

What we are also to realise is that we will face battles as we ‘come out’ of man-made systems of false worship and slavery to customs and traditions that are rooted in pagan practices, and although Mitsrayim may at times seem to be ‘greener on the other side’ so to speak, we are to quickly remember that what is there is only slavery and death.

We must constantly guard ourselves with the inclination to want to return, and this is what Yisra’ĕl was protected from doing as they exited Mitsrayim..

יהוה let them take the ‘long route’, in case they would ‘regret’ having come out after seeing some fighting!

The Hebrew root word that is translated here in verse 17 as ‘regret’ is נָחַם naḥam – Strong’s H5162 which means, ‘to comfort, console, to be comforted’ and also can express the meaning, ‘to be sorry, to be moved, have compassion, suffer grief, repent’.

It is written in the ‘niphal passive’ verb form, from which it can best be rendered as, ‘being sorry, suffer grief’, and this is not what יהוה wanted them to suffer!

The original root meaning of this word often seems to reflect the idea of ‘breathing deeply’; hence the physical display of one’s feelings, usually of sorrow, compassion or comfort.  .

While many of us may want to take the short cuts in life, we recognise that often the long way around is for our best interest and may even protect us from turning back from our journey in fear of the battles that lay ahead.

Many times we have seen how some, that come out of the church system of worship, are overwhelmed by the realisation of the inherited lies and are ill-equipped to face the battles that come from all around and in a panic, they turn back to what they were comfortable with, even though they know it is not the Truth – just because they do not want to ‘fight’ and are in fact unable to fight the lies due to a lack of knowledge in the Truth!.

Verse 18 – “They went up in fives”

The term that is used here, in Hebrew, for ‘fives’ or ‘armed’, is חֲמֻשִׁים ḥamushim – Strong’s H2571 – meaning, ‘in battle array or military formation’.

What this signifies is simply this – they came out in an orderly manner, very disciplined and each one in his position, guided under the authority of the instructions of Elohim, as given through Mosheh!

There was no chaos!

I want to make it very clear that there is order, in walking according to the Torah of יהוה, and we cannot have everyone doing whatever he sees fit to do in their own eyes – there is order, especially as we ‘come out’ of slavery!

Just because we have been released from slavery and man’s institutionalised religion, it does not give us licence to be lawless!!! On the contrary, we have a clearly defined and prescribed set of laws/instructions that have been given to us by our very own Elohim and King!.

The reason for also translating this as ‘fives’, is due to this word being closely linked to the Hebrew word חֲמִשָּׁה ḥamishshah – Strong’s H2568 which means, ‘fives, multiples of fives, fifth’.

Coming out in ‘fives’, not only signifies order but can also point to the 5 books of Mosheh – known to us as the Torah or the Torah of Mosheh, which gives us clear direction and light to our path but can also fit well in describing the redemption price of the firstborn as five sheqels of silver! Yisra’ĕl had been redeemed and bought at a price!.

What I want to stress here, is that in being delivered and set free from Mitsrayim and the bondage to sin and lawlessness, there comes with it the responsibility of walking according to יהוה’s Torah – and walking outside of this is dangerous ground, so dangerous that walking outside of the clear instructions of the Torah can cause you to lose your life!.

Another picture that one can see from this is that which He has given to equip His body unto maturity; and that is what can be called the 5 offices, or possible better described as the 5 gifts, for perfecting the set-apart ones and to the work of service and the building up of the body of Messiah unto maturity, as described in Eph’siyim/Ephesians 4:11-12 and that is:

Emissaries (apostles), prophets, evangelists, shepherds (pastors) and teachers!.

A derivative of the word, in Hebrew, that is used for ‘fives’, is another word that is very closely related to being armed and in battle array, which is חֲמִשִּׁים ḥamishshiym – Strong’s H2572 which means, ‘fifty, multiples of fifty, fifties, fiftieth’.

Being very similar in letters to the word that means ‘armed, in battle array’, and only different in their vowel pointings, we are also able to see another powerful picture of the deliverance of יהוה being brought for His set-apart people, through the blood of the Passover Lamb!

50 in Hebrew is symbolic in representing the Yoḇel and the release of debts, metaphorically picturing for us the fullness of redemption, and so here with the Yisra’ĕlites leaving Mitsrayim in battle array, in fives or in fifties, carries for us the fullness of the redemption price that brought through the Passover of יהוה..

It is by the Blood of יהושע Messiah that we have been redeemed from slavery and death, and are fully equipped to be led forth in truth and in complete battle array, as we, the redeemed, put on the ‘armour of Elohim’, which is to walk in obedience to His commands and be dressed in the pure garments of righteousness – that is to be dressed as a set-apart priesthood in His Torah – His Torah that leads us in a victorious procession in Messiah!!!.

Let us briefly take a look at the armour of Elohim, as described in:

Eph’siyim/Ephesians 6:10-18 “For the rest, my brothers, be strong in the Master and in the mightiness of His strength. 11 Put on the complete armour of Elohim, for you to have power to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 Because we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against authorities, against the world-rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual matters of wickedness in the heavenlies. 13 Because of this, take up the complete armour of Elohim, so that you have power to withstand in the wicked day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand, then, having girded your waist with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having fitted your feet with the preparation of the Good News of peace; 16 above all, having taken up the shield of belief with which you shall have power to quench all the burning arrows of the wicked one. 17 Take also the helmet of deliverance, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of Elohim, 18 praying at all times, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, watching in all perseverance and supplication for all the set-apart ones”

Sha’ul is NOT describing how we should dress like a Roman soldier, but rather, he is clearly describing for us that we, as a set-apart royal and chosen priesthood, are to be dressed in the complete Torah of Elohim.

When we continue in our knowledge and understanding of all Scripture from a true Hebraic perspective, regardless of the language it is written in, we are better equipped to handle the Truth with great joy and stand firm, no matter the circumstances we face.

We need to firstly recognise that when Sha’ul was writing these clear instructions to the set-apart ones, he was clearly pointing his readers back to The Torah and the Prophets, and how we are to dress like our Saviour and NOT like a Roman Soldier; as we see from Qolasim/Colossians 3:10 that we are to put on the new man according to the likeness of Him who created him!.

We are to put on Messiah, and as we go through this armour let us start by looking at:

Yeshayahu/Isaiah 59:16-17 “And He saw that there was no man, and was astonished that there was no intercessor. So His own arm saved for Him, and His righteousness upheld him. 17 And He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of deliverance on His head. And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped Himself with ardour as a mantle.”.

Sha’ul was most certainly pointing back to this text in Yeshayahu and we must recognise that Yeshayahu was clearly speaking about יהושע Messiah, and His garments and dress as our High Priest, not as a Roman soldier – bearing in mind that Yeshayahu would never have known what a Roman soldier looked like, as he lived a few hundred years before Rome even came into the picture!

And so, what we can see straight up here in Sha’ul’s letter to the believers in Ephesos is that they were to dress like Messiah, our High Priest..

And in the context of understanding the Armour of Elohim, we can see how, in a manner of speaking, that Yeshayahu is actually describing יהושע Messiah, as being the armour of יהוה – that which יהוה has given us of Himself – to put on and be clothed in Him!

I say it again – and I know we all agree to this – and that is: that we are to put on Messiah and His fullness, yet the mythical picture of a Roman soldier, in regards to this armour, has in actual fact disarmed so many who, through a twisted picture taught by blind guides, have caused many to not truly understand what is being written here and how this ‘Armour of Elohim’ is actually pointing to our need to be dressed in Him and His Torah in order to faithfully serve in His Tabernacle as a royal priesthood.

While he uses the imagery of Roman soldier garments, which would be relevant to his hearers, we must take note that using the Roman soldier imagery of the armour of Elohim alone, without taking this imagery to line up with the priestly service in the Tabernacle, simply points to a lawless regime, which is in for a huge wake-up call!

We need to have this imagery restored to its true meaning so that we are well-equipped to stand, and when the Day of יהוה comes we who are dressed in His Torah by walking according to His commands, will be manifested with Messiah in esteem!.

As we considering the armour of יהוה, which I have often said I will speak on, I must tell you that it was the text in Shemoth/Exodus 28 that got me looking a little deeper into His armour, which says:

Shemoth/Exodus 28:4 “And these are the garments which they make: a breastplate, a shoulder garment, a robe, an embroidered long shirt, a turban, and a girdle. And they shall make set-apart garments for Aharon your brother and his sons, for him to serve as priest to Me.”

This was the instruction given to Mosheh in regards to the garments that the wise of heart, which were filled with a spirit of wisdom, were to make for Aharon the high priest!.

What struck me, was that there are 6 items here, just as there are 6 items in the list of armour in Eph’siyim/Ephesians, and when recognising the garments required for the High Priest, as that which points to our High Priest and King יהושע Messiah, and seeing the words of Yeshayahu, then it is so clear and obvious, as to what Sha’ul was referring to, in his instructions for set-apart believers!.

I would like to briefly run through the armour of Elohim and show how each part points us back to the Torah and the Prophets and instructs us clearly how the Torah is the true set-apart gear for the one who will hear what the Spirit is saying!.

Sha’ul tells us to ‘put on’ the ‘armour’ of Elohim so that we have power to stand against the ‘schemes’ of the devil!

The word for ‘put on’, in the Greek, is ἐνδύω enduō – Strong’s G1746 which means, ‘to clothe or be clothed with (in the sense of sinking into a garment)’ and is made up of two words:

1 – ἐν en – Strong’s G1722 which is a primary preposition denoting position and by implying the state of being instrumental meaning, ‘in or on, with, by’; and

2 – δύνω dunō a form of δύω duō – Strong’s G1416 which means, ‘to enter, sink into, setting’. With the idea of ‘setting’ we can see how the 12 stones of the breastplate of the High priest were set into the ephod..

The Greek word for ‘armour’ is πανοπλία panoplia – Strong’s G3833 meaning, ‘full armour’, which is also made up of two words:

1 – πᾶς pas – Strong’s G3956 which means, ‘all, everything, continually, every kind, everyone’ and

2 – ὅπλον hoplon – Strong’s G3696 which means, ‘a tool, implement, weapon, instruments, armour’..

The Greek word that is used for ‘schemes’ is μεθοδεία methodeia – Strong’s G3180 which means, ‘to employ craft, deceit, scheming, trickery, cunning arts, lie in wait’..

We are to fully put on Messiah or else we will lack the necessary power to stand against the schemes and trickery of the devil.

So many people think that they are wearing the armour of Elohim while their disregard for the Torah immediately renders them powerless to the trickery and lies of the devil who has well-crafted various religions and dogmas of man that so easily lure away those who have no armour or are only half dressed due to compromise!.

It is the Torah (Mosheh) that washes us and clothes us for true set-apart service:

Wayyiqra/Leviticus 8:6-9 “So Mosheh brought Aharon and his sons and washed them with water, 7 and put the long shirt on him, and girded him with the girdle, and dressed him in the robe, and put the shoulder garment on him, and girded him with the embroidered band of the shoulder garment, and with it tied the shoulder garment on him, 8 and put the breastplate on him, and put the Urim and the Tummim in the breastplate, 9 and put the turban on his head. And on the turban, on its front, he put the golden plate, the set-apart sign of dedication, as יהוה had commanded Mosheh.”

I also believe that Sha’ul was reflecting back to this passage when he was writing his letter to the believers in Ephesos..

Let us now look at the armour that Sha’ul speaks of:

1 – THE BELT OF TRUTH

Often people recite this without recognising what Truth is:

Yoḥanan/John 17:17 “Set them apart in Your truth – Your Word is truth.”

Yoḥanan/John 14:6 “יהושע said to him, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Sadly, many today do not know the Truth, even when it is staring them right in the face – just like Pilate, who stood before Messiah – The Truth and asked the question, “What is Truth?” and he walked out!

Yoḥanan Aleph/1 John 2:4 “The one who says, “I know Him,” and does not guard His commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

To get a clearer answer to what Truth is we can see what Dawiḏ says in:

Tehillah/Psalm 119:142 “Your righteousness is righteousness forever, and Your Torah is truth.”

You do not get it any clearer than that, yet we can further see in this Psalm:

Tehillah/Psalm 119:151 “You are near, O יהוה, and all Your commands are truth.”

His commands, which are His Torah (His instructions) are Truth and this must be our belt as we guard to do his commands for that will be our righteousness – for His righteousness that we clothe ourselves with through obedience is forever!

Yeshayahu/Isaiah 11:5 “And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and trustworthiness the girdle of His waist.”

The word used here for ‘girdle’ is אֵזוֹר ezor – Strong’s H232 meaning, ‘girdle, belt, waistband’ and we see from this that Truth must be a belt for us – strapped around our waist and loins so that we continue to walk in righteousness and not stray!

This word is used in the words of יהוה to Yirmeyahu, in speaking of the those who are supposed to walk in His Truth have disobeyed as the girdle or belt became useless, when they are called to be a set-apart people:

Yirmeyahu/Jeremiah 13:10-11 “This evil people, who refuse to hear My Words, who walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and walk after other mighty ones to serve them and to bow themselves to them, is like this girdle which is completely useless. 11 ‘For as the girdle clings to the loins of a man, so I have caused all the house of Yisra’ĕl and all the house of Yehuḏah to cling to Me,’ declares יהוה, ‘to become Mine – for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for an adorning. But they did not listen.’”

Those who refuse to listen to and obey the Torah are evil and dysfunctional, as they follow hard after the traditions and dogmas of man that has become a useless belt for them, instead of putting on the belt of Truth!.

Let me ask you – are you girded about with Truth – does the Truth cling to your loins as you cling to His word and walk in it – or has your belt become loosened through compromise and sin!

Through sin and compromise people become ‘fat’ in their own selfishness and pride and like a person that get fatter and fatter until their belt becomes too small and useless to wear, so do those who continue in sin and lawlessness become fat with pride and arrogance o the point where the belt of Truth no longer fits!.

The Greek word for ‘the Truth’ is ἀλήθεια alētheia – Strong’s G225 which means, ‘truth, truly, according to truth’ and in Hebrew, the word for ‘truth’ is אֱמֶת emeth – Strong’s H571 which means, ‘truth, firmness, faithfulness’, and this word carries an underlying sense of certainty and dependability – and we know that The Word of יהוה is truth:

Tehillim/Psalm 119:160 “The sum of Your word is truth, and all Your righteous right-rulings are forever.”.

Anyone who claims to serve יהוה without walking in and giving heed to follow His Torah, commands and instructions are not serving in Truth, and those who claim that the Torah/Law of Elohim has been done away with are sadly riddled with the leaven of the hypocrisy of man’s theologies and dogmas that seeks only to serve self rather than the Giver of Life, while claiming the opposite!.

In the ancient pictographic symbols of this word, we are given a greater insight in understanding how יהושע Messiah is THE TRUTH!

This word – אֱמֶת emeth – Strong’s H571, in the ancient script, look like this:.

.

Aleph – אֱ

The ancient script has this letter as and is pictured as ‘the head of an ox’, and represents ‘strength’, meaning ‘muscle’ as the ox is the strongest of the livestock animals.

This also carries the meaning of ‘yoke’, as an ox is placed in a yoke in order to plough or pull a heavy load in the right direction. This can also picture for us the ‘red heifer’ sacrifice that יהושע Messiah fulfilled!.

Mem – מֶ

The ancient script has this letter as and is pictured as ‘water’, and also carries the meaning of ‘chaos’ (from the storms of the sea) and can also picture that which is mighty or massive as well as the unknown. We are also able to understand this letter as representing the nations, for the nations are often likened to the seas in Scripture..

Taw – ת

The ancient script has this letter as which is pictured as two crossed sticks, and can represent for us ‘seal, covenant, mark or sign’; as this once again points to the complete work of Messiah in the renewal of the Covenant in His Blood that brings the two Houses of Yisra’ĕl and Yehuḏah together in Him, as One, for He is not only the ‘aleph’, but is also the ‘taw’ – the beginning and the end of all creation!.

As we consider these letters in describing Messiah as being the TRUTH, we are able to clearly see that it is by His strength and might that He has passed through the waters in order to secure for us His Covenants of Promise!

Messiah is the Aleph and the Taw – the first and the last, who came from above (passing through the waters of the heavens and the earth) in order to redeem us according to His Word!.

2 – THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

Deḇarim/Deuteronomy 6:25 “And it is righteousness for us when we guard to do all this command before יהוה our Elohim, as He has commanded us.”

The breastplate of the High Priest has what?

12 stones that represent the 12 tribes of Yisra’ĕl, and the full breastplate represents the fullness of all 12 tribes that are gathered together in Messiah as each one is set in or grafted in to Righteousness that guards the heart and chest – the heart is where the Torah is to be written upon and righteousness guards our hearts and minds in Messiah!

Shemoth/Exodus 28:15 “And you shall make a breastplate of right-ruling, a work of a skilled workman, like the work of the shoulder garment. Make it of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet material, and fine woven linen.”.

A breastplate of ‘right-ruling’ – ‘RIGHT-RULINGS’ – מִשְׁפָּט mishpat – Strong’s H4941 – ‘judgement, ordinance, regulations’ and comes from the word שָׁפַט shaphat – Strong’s H8199 – meaning, ‘to judge, govern, rule, pronounce judgement, give law’.

Yeshayahu/Isaiah 33:22 “for יהוה is our Judge, יהוה is our Lawgiver, יהוה is our Sovereign, He saves us”

There is only One who gives us the Law by which we must live and by which we are governed and these judgements and right-rulings and regulations given by Him we must DO!!!.

3 – FEET FITTED WITH THE GOOD NEWS OF PEACE

Here Sha’ul was once again referring back to the High Priest in the service of the Tabernacle:

Shemoth/Exodus 28:35 “And it shall be upon Aharon to attend in, and its sound shall be heard when he goes into the set-apart place before יהוה and when he comes out, so that he does not die.”

Remember that there was no ‘shoes’ in the garments of the High Priest and so we see that His service is in the set-apart presence of the Master, where shoes were taken off!.

Shoes fitted with the good News is a picture of being completely fitted with pure set-apart garments of Truth and Righteousness, ready to do service and just as Aharon would be heard as he went in and came out, so too do we need to make sure that we do not remain silent in our proclaiming of the Besorah (Good News), lest we die!

Yeshayahu/Isaiah 52:7-8 “How pleasant upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings good news, who proclaims deliverance, who says to Tsiyon, “Your Elohim reigns!” 8 The voice of your watchmen! They shall lift up their voices, together they shout for joy, because eye to eye they see the return of יהוה to Tsiyon.”.

Feet, in the Hebraic mind-set, refers to one’s walk and feet fitted with the Good News of Peace speaks of walking in the perfect commands of Elohim as we guard to keep all His Appointed Times and in the picture of the High Priest with no shoes, we can see the picture of not having our feet soiled with man-made customs and designs for fleshly comfort, but rather having feet washed and fitted with that which from Elohim – certainly a different picture than a roman soldier’s sandal or boot!!!.

Romiyim/Romans 10:14-15 “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without one proclaiming? 15 And how shall they proclaim if they are not sent? As it has been written, “How pleasant are the feet of those who bring the Good News of peace, who bring the Good News of the good!” .

When Messiah washed His disciple’s feet He commissioned them for service toward one another by setting the highest example for us and so his washing of the feet symbolised how we are to make sure that our feet are daily washed in His Word – for this would keep our feet from slipping and we will be able to proclaim with joy the Good News!.

4 – THE SHIELD OF FAITH

Berěshith/Genesis 15:1 “After these events the word of יהוה came to Aḇram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Aḇram. I am your shield, your reward is exceedingly great.”

Tehillah/Psalm 28:7 “יהוה is my strength, and my shield; my heart has trusted in Him, and I have been helped; therefore my heart exults, and with my song I thank Him.”

The Greek word that is used for ‘shield’, in Sha’ul’s letter, is θυρεός thureos – Strong’s G2375 which means, ‘a shield’ and was typically understood as being a large oblong four cornered shield and comes from the word θύρα thura – Strong’s G2374 which means, ‘a door, entrance or gate’.

This shield would be as large as a door that would cover the whole man like a door, which could also cover the entrance to a cave, and many of the ancient shield were typically made of wood and covered with animal’s skins..

When we think of the picture of this kind of shield, we can immediately see the pointing to יהושע Messiah, who is The Door and in reference to the Tabernacle the Set-Apart Place had coverings of animal skins, and so when we understand that יהוה is our shield then we can see how we find great refuge in Him and His Name, as we serve Him faithfully, by shining His Light, as the Lampstand in the set-apart place that gives light to the House..

This makes perfect sense, in its relationship to a door, for the only means of access to that protection is through the door, as we recognise these words that יהושע Messiah is speaking to us.

There is no other way to walk under His protection except by entering in or going out through the Door!

Going in and out through the Door clearly implies a continued action of obedience, and to walk as Messiah walked involves action, and that action is to be done completely in line with His walk – and that is a walk of total obedience!.

Therefore, as we come to The Door and follow our Shepherd’s voice, by obeying His Torah, we are able to find great refuge in our Mighty Elohim, who is our strength and shield!

Tehillah/Psalm 5:12 “For You bless the righteous, O יהוה; You surround him with favour as with a shield.”.

Tehillah/Psalm 33:20 “Our being has longed for יהוה; our help and our shield is He.”

The Hebrew root word that used here for ‘shield’ is מָגֵן magen – Strong’s H4043 which means, ‘shield, buckler, defence’, and is also understood as representing ‘a wall of protection’.

Tehillah/Psalm 28:7 “יהוה is my strength, and my shield; my heart has trusted in Him, and I have been helped; therefore my heart exults, and with my song I thank Him.”.

What we recognize too, is that we cannot see the shield of faith; and our shield is יהושע, our High Priest and King, and we place our trust in Him, who we do not see, and our belief and expectation are in Him..

5 – THE HELMET OF DELIVERANCE

Shemoth/Exodus 28:36-38 “And you shall make a plate of clean gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet: SET-APARTNESS TO יהוה. “And you shall put it on a blue cord, and it shall be on the turban – it is to be on the front of the turban. “And it shall be on the forehead of Aharon, and Aharon shall bear the guilt of the set-apart gifts which the children of Yisra’ĕl set apart in all their set-apart gifts. And it shall always be on his forehead, for acceptance for them before יהוה.”

Yeḥezqěl/Ezekiel 9:3-6 “And the esteem of the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl went up from the keruḇ, where it had been, to the threshold of the House. And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer’s ink-horn at his side, and יהוה said to him, “Pass on into the midst of the city, into the midst of Yerushalayim, and you shall put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.” And to the others He said in my hearing, “Pass on into the city after him and smite, do not let your eye pardon nor spare. “Slay to destruction old, young men, maidens and children and women, but do not come near anyone upon whom is the mark, and begin at My set-apart place.” So they began with the elders who were in front of the House.”

What marks us for deliverance, as we sojourn here?

Shemoth/Exodus 13:9 &16 tells us that the keeping of Pěsaḥ and Matzot (Passover and Unleavened Bread) is a sign on our foreheads and hands and Yeḥezqěl 20:20 & 20 tells us that the Sabbath is a sign between us and יהוה forever.

Our obedience to His commands and the keeping of His Appointed Times is what marks our deliverance to come and each one must work their own deliverance with fear and trembling as we are transformed daily by the renewing of our minds, as we meditate on the Torah day and night!

6 – SWORD OF THE SPIRIT

Just as we cannot see the shield of faith, the sword of the Spirit we also cannot see – the sword of the Spirit is the Word of יהוה that is written on our hearts and minds as part of the Renewed Covenant in Messiah!

Deḇarim/Deuteronomy 33:29 “Blessed are you, O Yisra’ĕl! Who is like you, a people saved by יהוה, the shield of your help, and He who is the sword of your excellency! And your enemies are subdued for you, and you tread down their high places.”

Iḇ’rim/Hebrews 4:12 “For the Word of Elohim is living, and working, and sharper than any two-edged sword, cutting through even to the dividing of being and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”.

We certainly do have hard copies of the Word of Elohim and we must meditate day and night on it, however the sword of the Spirit is more than the letters on the pages we must read and study daily – for it is in us and the light of His truth must be kept burning inside us as we guard to keep our lamps burning continually which is the duty of the set-apart priesthood!

The Sword of the Spirit is our only offensive weapon against the attacks of the devil and if we do not know how to use the Sword then we endanger not only our own lives but also the lives of others!

There may come a time when we might have limited access to Scripture copies and so we must ensure that the Word is in us and is alive, so that we are able to yield the sword as a faithful soldier of Messiah..

As discussed previously on the ‘lamp and light’ we know that the Word is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path and so Sha’ul tells us in:

Romiyim/Romans 13:12 “The night is far advanced, the day has come near. So let us put off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.”.

How are you dressed? Do you ‘put on’ the armour of Elohim or do you forget what to wear? We wear the armour of Elohim, based on His Covenants of Promise to which we have been brought near by the blood of Messiah, and exchanging armour was an ancient practice as part of Covenant making:

Shemuʼěl Aleph/1 Samuel 18:3-4 “And Yehonathan and Dawiḏ made a covenant, because he loved him as his own being. 4 And Yehonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to Dawiḏ, and his garments, even to his sword and his bow and his girdle.”.

Messiah, in His Own Blood, renewed the marriage Covenant and exchanged garments with us as He took our sin in order that we can be clothed in Him and His whole armour:

Qorintiyim Bět/2 Corinthians 5:21 “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of Elohim.”

Now, because of the Renewed Covenant, we are able to put on His perfect armour! So, we who are sons of light and sons of the day, let us daily put on the full armour of Elohim, clothed in the fullness of his Living Word as we faithfully guard to do all He has commanded us.

There is much more I could share on the topic, yet I ask you – Have you figured out what the full armour of יהוה looks like as depicted by the Hebrew Scriptures and not by a Roman guard?In a nutshell, to put on the full armour of יהוה is to put on the garments of the Priesthood as described by the Torah and serve accordingly!

Qolasim/Colossians 3:8-11 “But now, also put off all these: displeasure, wrath, evil, blasphemy, filthy talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have put off the old man with his practices, 10 and have put on the new one who is renewed in knowledge according to the likeness of Him who created him, 11 where there is not Greek and Yehuḏite, circumcised and uncircumcised, foreigner, Scythian, slave, free, but Messiah is all, and in all.”.

He who has an ear – PUT ON THE RIGHT GEAR!!!.

Verse 19 – The bones of Yosĕph

In Berěshith/Genesis 50:25 Yosĕph made the children of Yisra’ĕl swear that when יהוה would visit them that they should bring his bones up from Mitsrayim.

There was a definite promise given back then that יהוה would visit them and that He would deliver them and by taking the bones of Yosĕph was a distinct reminder of the promise given and bring great confidence to Yisra’ĕl..

By Mosheh literally bringing Yosĕph’s bones at this time carries great prophetic significance for us today as we see clearly that Mosheh is often referred to in the renewed writings (N.T.) as the Torah and is a clear picture of how it is the very Torah of יהוה that will bring the unified body of ‘Yosĕph’ back to the Promised Land as promised by יהוה, and we see a clear prophetic picture of this in Yeḥezqěl/Ezekiel 37.

This is a great picture of the promise of the return of the lost 10 tribes of Yisra’ĕl and being united with Yehuḏah and Binyamin, and what we also see is that Yosĕph’s bones also represent his firstborn status to which he was given by his father and was confirmed in two dreams by יהוה.

Just before Ya’aqoḇ died he called for Yosĕph to confirm his firstborn status and appointed Ephrayim (Yosĕph’s second born) first born status over his brother Menashsheh and by doing this he also took Yosĕph’s sons as his own, as Re’uḇĕn and Shim’on were.

This positioning of Ephrayim and Menashsheh was very significant, which greatly endorsed Yosĕph’s position and prominence for generations to come! Yosĕph as a type or shadow of Messiah brings this carrying of his bones into great significance – the firstborn will return! – Messiah the firstborn among the dead will return and this carries the sure promise of the return of His entire body – His whole bride!

The True worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit and Truth. Just as the bones in Yeḥezqěl received life by the breath of Elohim, so to by His Spirit and His Torah, does He cause us to return!.

Verse 20 – they departed from Sukkoth to Ětham

On our journey it is of great importance that we understand the very stops that Yisra’ĕl had on their Wilderness journey as it teaches us along the way and how we can learn vital lessons from each critical arrival or departure stations and here at this point we see two being mentioned – Sukkoth and Ětham.

Let us look briefly at these two stops:.

Stop 1 – Sukkoth

This first ‘stop’ in the wilderness journey is called סֻכֹּת Sukkoth – Strong’s H5523 which means, ‘booths’– and this means temporary dwelling!

We are sojourners here and the first stop of coming out of sun-worship is to enter into the dwelling of the Most-High Elohim.

Sukkoth is the ‘Festival of Booths’ that we keep each year as we remember these Wilderness journeys and that we too are sojourners here as we await the return of Messiah when He will come and make His Booth here among us and we shall dwell with Him forever!

This city/stop was still in the land of Mitsrayim and reminds us clearly that although we are still in the world we are not of the world! It was at Sukkoth that Yisra’ĕl learnt to ‘camp out’ as this too was a territory pretty much occupied by Bedouins or tent dwellers..

It was here at Sukkoth we see from Shemoth/Exodus 13:1-16 that the regulations for the firstborn males are given and as I said in Ḥazon/Revelation 12 the woman bore a male child who would shepherd all the nations with a rod of iron!

Our first stop at coming out of Mitsrayim/Babylon/Christianity is in fact beginning to keep the Sabbath and to enter His ‘rest’ each week and learn His Torah as a community that is sojourning together.

Sadly, there are too many who claim they want to leave Ra’meses yet the comfort of inherited lies is too hard for them to let go of and the first sign of this is simply that they refuse to acknowledge the true Sabbath of יהוה.

Having been so indoctrinated for centuries, most will plainly refuse the Truth for a twisted lie that claims the Sabbath changed to sun-day!

What most do not realise is the fact that it all comes down to worship and we are ‘marked’ by whom we worship in the correct or incorrect observance of the Sabbath of יהוה!.

Sukkoth is the 7^th Feast of יהוה, and clearly pictures for us the time He comes to dwell with us and is a shadow picture of the Millennial Reign when the child who was born will shepherd the nations with a rod of iron! Our mark/sign of worship is our Sabbath keeping, for He has given us His Sabbath as a sign between us and Him forever!

Yeḥezqěl/Ezekiel 20:12 “And I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, to know that I am יהוה who sets them apart.”

Yeḥezqěl/Ezekiel 20:12 “And set apart My Sabbaths, and they shall be a sign between Me and you, to know that I am יהוה your Elohim.”

Shemoth/Exodus 31:13-14 “And you, speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, saying, ‘My Sabbaths you are to guard, by all means, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, to know that I, יהוה, am setting you apart. 14 ‘And you shall guard the Sabbath, for it is set-apart to you. Everyone who profanes it shall certainly be put to death, for anyone who does work on it, that being shall be cut off from among his people.”.

It is truly here, at the ‘Sukkoth’ stop, in a sense, where we learn to rest in Him and allow His Word to give us His peace and strength! So, we move from calling upon His Name and receiving the sign of our worship by keeping His Shabbat..

The enemy also has a mark/sign of worship and that is ‘sun-day’ worship and all who follow the beast and his image by worshipping on the ‘day of the sun’, while forsaking to keep the Sabbath of יהוה, receive the mark of the beast on their forehead as they cognitively choose to disregard the Torah and follow the beast under the teachings of traditions and man-made dogmas, as well as on their right hand which, as we know is Scripture, that the right hand is symbolic of that by which one works, and so, by ‘working’ and not resting on the Sabbath of יהוה, then one is in fact receiving the mark of the beast too!

This is serious business and part of our coming out of Mitsrayim/Babylon is to forsake the traditions of the world and is institutionalised forms of worship that has clearly adopted pagan practices as its basis and means of existence, having been very crafty in syncretising the truth, twisting it and blending it in with customs and traditions that control the masses and amass wealth for the elite hierarchy!.

As one leaves Ra’meses and camps at ‘Sukkoth’ – one learns the joy of the Feasts and Appointed Times of יהוה, realising that although we are still in the world, we do not worship the way the world worships any longer, but strictly according to the way the Torah instructs!.

THESE FIRST TWO STATIONS – THAT OF OUR DEPARTURE AND THE FIRST STOP ON OUR JOURNEY – RA‘MESES AND SUKKOTH – ARE THE KEYS TO THE BEGINNING OF OUR WILDERNESS JOURNEY. THIS IS NOT THE END BUT RATHER SIMPLY THE BEGINNING OF A WONDERFUL JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY AND GROWTH IN MESSIAH AND REQUIRES GREAT ENDURANCE.

This is a wonderful picture of the people of Elohim, Yisra’ĕl – that is you and I included, who turn away from what the world has to offer as we see our dwelling is with the Most-High, who will come and tabernacle with us..

Sukkoth, we know, refers to the 7^th Feast of Booths when it shadow picture for us the time when יהושע will come to take up His Bride and ‘Sukkoth’ with Her.

What is a powerful picture for us in understanding where we are headed toward – Sukkoth – and our need to steer clear of what the world has to offer, we have full assurance that this promise is true as being sealed by the Blood of Messiah!!!.

When we look at the word for סֻכֹּת Sukkoth – Strong’s H5523 in the ancient Script, we find a beautiful confirmation of this fact:

.

Samek – סֹ:

The ancient script has this letter pictured as , which is a thorn and has the meanings of ‘pierce and sharp’ and can also carry the meaning of ‘a shield, protection’, as thorn bushes were used by shepherds to build a wall to enclose their flock in the night against the attack of predators. Another meaning would be ‘to grab hold of’ as a thorn is a seed that clings to hair and clothing..

Kaph – ךְ:

The ancient form of this letter is – meaning ‘the open palm of a hand’. The meaning behind this letter is ‘to bend and curve’ from the shape of a palm as well as ‘to tame or subdue’ as one has been bent to another’s will (under their hand), as an open hand symbolises submission. The picture of the palm of the hand also represents ‘covering’..

Taw – ת

The ancient script has this letter as which is pictured as two crossed sticks, and can represent for us ‘seal, covenant, mark or sign’; as this once again points to the complete work of Messiah in the renewal of the Covenant in His Blood that brings the two Houses of Yisra’ĕl and Yehuḏah together in Him, as One, for He is not only the ‘aleph’, but is also the ‘taw’ – the beginning and the end of all creation!

Now, when we understand that these three letters make up סֻכֹּת Sukkoth I find it very fascinating, as we see being pictured here that יהושע is our Good Shepherd who has sealed us in His Blood as יהוה extended His Right Hand to us!.

And we see that Messiah, not only had a ‘crown of thorns’ put on His Head and had a reed placed in His right hand, as well as being stricken for us, but He willingly gave His Life for us, in order to secure us and cause us to be made into the Dwelling Place of the Most High, where He will Sukkoth with us, when the two sticks (Yehuḏah and Ephrayim) are brought back together as One!.

Can you see the clear significance of Sukkoth?

We take note that the Word סֻּכֹּת – ‘Sukkoth’, in the ancient pictographic lettering, can render for us the following:.

PROTECTED COVERING OF THE COVENANT!.

They left Sukkoth and camped at Ětham:.

Stop 2 – Ětham

This stop – אֵתָם Ětham Strong’s H864 means, “with them or their ploughshare”.

In understanding the meaning of ‘with them’, we can see how, in Ḥazon/Revelation 12, Satan is cast out of heaven down to earth where man dwells and so now, he is ‘with them’, so to speak, and it is here that he has set up his government control through the beast..

Ětham deals with sin that is here with us and the realization of how יהוה is also here with us, by His Spirit, and therefore, we must deal with sin in our lives and not accept the rule of sin/lawlessness, but rather, be diligent to walk in the instructions of יהוה..

This is a place of reality check – we must choose wisely whom we serve – we know that Satan is here and he is constantly on the prowl like a lion always looking for someone to devour..

It is at this early stage of the journey where in fact he does devour many as insecurities begin to set in and compromise can be the cause of many as they tend to ‘follow the crowd’ preferring to ‘be with them’ rather than living set-apart and have the prospect of being persecuted..

What Ětham can also picture for us in understanding ‘with them: their ploughshare’ we can see great joy in knowing that during the Kingdom, Messiah will dwell “with us“ and we will “beat our swords into ploughshares“..

Listen to what Miḵah/Micah the prophet says:.

Miḵah/Micah 4:1-5 “And in the latter days it shall be that the mountain of the House of יהוה is established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills. And peoples shall flow to it. 2 And many nations shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of יהוה, to the House of the Elohim of Ya’aqoḇ, and let Him teach us His ways, and let us walk in His paths. For out of Tsiyon comes forth the Torah, and the word of יהוה from Yerushalayim.” 3 And He shall judge among many peoples, and reprove strong nations afar off. They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks – nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither teach battle any more. 4 But each one shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, with no one to make them afraid, for the mouth of יהוה of hosts has spoken. 5 For all the peoples walk, each one in the name of his mighty one, but we walk in the Name of יהוה our Elohim forever and ever.”.

‘With their ploughshare’ can also speak to us of unity of Yisra’ĕl which is renewed at the feast of Sukkoth and how we then ‘plough’ the ground for the next year’s growth!

So, what we can see from this stop is the clear distinction between who is with us – Immanu’ĕl or the imposter?

May we truly learn to walk in and stay in Messiah as we work the fields of the harvest, for he who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is not worthy of the kingdom. This is where the work begins and it is not time to give up but rather get ‘stuck in’ and give it your all!.

Verse 21-22 – COLUMN OF CLOUD AND PILLAR OF FIRE

These two verses we would do well to consider carefully and remember – for it is from this that we can see a clear picture that gives us great confidence in seeing how יהוה assures us that He will never leave us nor forsake us!

Here, the Yisra’ĕlites had the very presence of יהוה with them all day and all night and it never ceased.

The visible proof of His presence would certainly encourage them to not slow down.

They had light for both the night and the day and so they could journey as He led them..

We too, are called to be diligent, as we have come out of darkness into His marvellous light and walk as children of light, not asleep but keeping watch, meditating on His Word day and night.

With His very Torah on our hearts and Messiah dwelling in us by His Spirit we too have His presence with us day and night and we need never fear as we stay in Him and walk the path of Righteousness as His Word leads.

He promised that whoever followed Him would never walk in darkness – His Torah is a light to our path and a lamp to our feet, why would we want to move out of that?.

The Hebrew root word for ‘cloud’ is עָנָן anan – Strong’s H6051 which means, ‘a cloud, cloud mass, heavy mist’, and can also mean, ‘covering’.

We know from Scripture that Yisra’ĕl moved camp when the ‘cloud’ moved and pitched camp and stayed where the ‘cloud’ stayed, always teaching them never to go or stay without the presence of יהוה!

What is interesting to note is that there were times when Yisra’ĕl grumbled, which at times may have possibly arose due to the fact that they had to pack up camp and move on when the ‘cloud’ of יהוה moved!.

In Hebrew, there is a word that sounds similar to this Hebrew word for cloud, yet it carries a negative connotation; and that is the word אָנַן anan – Strong’s H596 which means, ‘to complain, murmur’.

Very similar ‘sounding’ words yet very different indeed!

In understanding that the Hebrew word for cloud, also means covering, it speaks of our protection and provision! It represents our safety and refers to the presence of יהוה and so, by seeing these two very similar sounding, yet contrasting words, which differ only by the first letter, for the word for cloud/covering begins with an ע ‘ayin’ and the word for complain begins with the letter א ‘aleph’. And for me, this speaks a very important message for us.

When people try to assume their own covering – their own ways and means of provision and care they will always come up short and never be satisfied and will always complain!.

What does complaining reveal?

It simply reveals ingratitude for יהוה’s care!

This word אָנַן anan – Strong’s H596 is used in:

Bemiḏbar/Numbers 11:1 “And it came to be, when the people were as complainers, it was evil in the ears of יהוה. And יהוה heard it, and His displeasure burned. And the fire of יהוה burned among them, and consumed those in the outskirts of the camp.”

Here the Yisra’ĕlites had all they need, and more than that, they had the presence of יהוה in their midst!

They neglected His covering and sought their own in terms of pleasures they would rather have had and so they ended up complaining about what they didn’t have; they complained about what they used to have and they also complained about what they had at the time!

Have you ever found yourself complaining like this? You don’t have what you want, you don’t have what you used to have and you don’t like what you have now – does this sound familiar to some?

The danger and problem with complaining is that it is contagious!

Your complaining will affect and even infect others into complaining and before you know it can end up like we have just read – a mixed multitude of grumblers lusting for selfish pleasure!.

Sha’ul tells us in:

Pilipiyim/Philippians 2:14-15 “Do all matters without grumblings and disputings, 15 in order that you be blameless and faultless, children of Elohim without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world”

Don’t grumble and complain for then you cannot shine as lights in the world!

Being ‘under the cloud’ is the emphasis of Bemiḏbar/Numbers 9, as it is used 11 times in Bemiḏbar/Numbers 9:15-22 – 11 times in 8 verses!

The emphasis was being under the guidance and direction of יהוה, yet they were in one sense trying to be what we could call their own ‘cloud-makers’ trying to rely on self in leaning back toward slavery rather than relying on the covering of יהוה and this is what made יהוה angry!.

Complainers – all they do is complain and in the process are destructive rather than constructive and the wrath of יהוה consumed the outskirts of the camp – perhaps where most of the complainers were.

Have you noticed that it is always those on the outskirts or the side-lines that tend to be the ones who chirp the most and offer up the most criticism?

Those who are never willing to actually get involved and be committed will always moan and groan about something – and that is the problem – idleness – no commitment to fellowship and building and this sadly results more often than not into a crew of complainers, complaining about what is not, what was better somewhere else and what sucks here!!! Hey I am just speaking as straight as the Word is!

In verse 6 these complainers basically were saying, “All there is here is manna!”.

The promise given in Shemoth/Exodus 13:21 is clear – יהוה’s presence would not cease before the people; and this must give us the confidence to fully trust in Him as His Spirit is with us, leading us and teaching us His ways!

He would ‘lead’ them by day and give them light by night – and the word ‘lead’ in the Hebrew is the root word נָחָה naḥah – Strong’s H5148 which means, ‘to lead, guide, bring forth, govern’.

His presence leads us and guides us and governs us on the way!

This word נָחָה naḥah – Strong’s H5148 is also used in:

Tehillah/Psalm 5:8 “O יהוה, lead me in Your righteousness because of those watching me; make Your way straight before my face.”

Tehillah/Psalm 23:3 “He turns back my being; He leads me in paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake.”

Tehillah/Psalm 27:11 “Teach me Your way, O יהוה, and lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.”

Tehillah/Psalm 31:3 “For You are my rock and my stronghold; for Your Name’s sake lead me and guide me.”

Yeshayahu/Isaiah 58:11 “Then יהוה would guide you continually, and satisfy your being in drought, and strengthen your bones. And you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.”.

At night He would give them ‘light’ which is the primitive root verb אוֹר or – Strong’s H215 which means, ‘to be or become light, give light’, and from this, we see the derivative: אוּר ur – Strong’s H217 which actually means, ‘a flame, fire, fires, light’ or ‘light of fire’.

The plural of the word אוּר ur – Strong’s H217 is used in:

Shemoth/Exodus 28:30 “And into the breastplate of right-ruling you shall put the Urim and the Tummim, and they shall be on the heart of Aharon when he goes in before יהוה. And Aharon shall bear the right-ruling of the children of Yisra’ĕl on his heart before יהוה, continually.”.

אוּרִים Urim – Strong’s H224 means ‘lights, illuminations’ – this was placed in the breastplate of right-ruling of the High Priest, together with the תֻּמִּים Tummim – plural of תֹּם tom, and carries the meaning of ‘perfections’..

While there is no evidence to clearly tell us what the Urim and Tummim consisted of, be it stones or any other substance, what we can see is that the High Priest would use these in order to get right-ruling and so speaks of seeking the perfect truth from יהוה.

What is very interesting and worthy of noting is that the first letter of ‘Urim’ is the א ‘aleph’ and the first letter of Tummim is the ת ‘taw’:

Ḥazon/Revelation 1:8 “I am the ‘Aleph’ and the ‘Taw’, beginning and end,” says יהוה “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Yeshayahu/Isaiah 44:6 “Thus said יהוה, Sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, and his Redeemer, יהוה of hosts, ‘I am the First and I am the Last, besides Me there is no Elohim.”.

What are the urim and tummim?

They are the things that illuminate and perfect. We know that יהושע is the Light and He was the Perfect Lamb, and so this represents for us our need to hunger and thirst for righteousness and be perfect before Elohim, for He is perfect and we are called to be the salt and light, which we can only be when we seek out His Right-Ruling and walk according to that which is to be upon our heart – His Torah (notice the positioning of the Urim and Tummim in the breastplate – by the heart!!!)

He writes His Torah on our hearts and so it is our hearts and mouths that we may do it!

Yisra’ĕl had the ‘light/illumination’ of the Truth and therefore were not in darkness!.

In our Master, יהושע Messiah, is life and the life is the light of men!!! (Yoḥanan/John 1:4)

Those who are in the Master and stay in Him have life and life abundantly and need not fear the darkness of evil.

When we consider the clear picture of Yisra’ĕl having light while Mitsrayim were in thick darkness we are also able to recognise the joy of having the strength and power of our Master giving us secure light in our sojourning.

What is worth taking note of, in terms of the Hebrew word for light, we are able to see a powerful Truth being given to us through the ancient pictographic of this word:.

The Hebrew word that is translated as ‘light’ – אוֹר oor – Strong’s H216 is written in the ancient pictographic script as follows:

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Aleph – א:

This is the letter ‘aleph’, in the ancient script is pictured as , ‘the head of an ox’, and represents ‘strength’, meaning ‘muscle’ as the ox is the strongest of the livestock animals. This also carries the meaning of ‘yoke’, as an ox is placed in a yoke in order to plough or pull a heavy load in the right direction. This can also picture for us the ‘red heifer’ sacrifice that יהושע Messiah fulfilled!.

Waw/Vav – וֹ:

This is the Hebrew letter ‘waw’ or ‘vav’ which in the ancient script is pictured as , which is a peg or ‘tent peg’, which was used for securing or tying the tent or other items. The possibility of it having a Y-shape is to show that it prevents the rope from slipping off. The root meaning of this letter is ‘to add, secure or hook’ as well as ‘bind’..

Resh – רִ:

The ancient script has this letter as and is pictured as ‘the head of a man’ and has the meaning of the head of a man as well as ‘chief, top, begging or first’. It has the meaning of ‘top’, as in the top or head of a body, and ‘chief’, as in a head of a tribe or people; as well as the one who rules the people. Every House has a head of the home, and all in the House submit to the instructions of the One who is head of the home, listening to and obeying the words that the Head speaks!.

When we consider these ancient pictographic letters, that render the word for ‘light’, we can clearly see a powerful lesson, in terms of our Master, the Light of the world, giving us the rendering:.

STRENGTH SECURED IN THE HEAD!.

We have great confidence and security in being able to be strong and courageous as we walk in the Light as our Master, who is our Head, is in the Light and in Him we have been secured into His Covenants of promise, having called us out of darkness into His marvellous light, for His Word lights our path in a dark and depraved world!.

Yisra’ĕl were therefore given ‘light’ in the darkness, which metaphorically reminds us of how we need not fear the ‘darkness’ of the world, as יהוה gives us the light of His Word and illuminates it to us, helping us be led forth in peace as His Word is a lamp to our feet and light to our path!.

We need not be ignorant of our Master’s plans, for we do not walk in the dark, as we have His Truth that lights our way:

Tas’loniqim Aleph/1 Thessalonians 5:4-8 “But you, brothers, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 For you are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 So, then, we should not sleep, as others do, but we should watch and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8 But we who are of the day should be sober, putting on the breastplate of belief and love, and as a helmet the expectation of deliverance.”

CHAPTER 14

Here we see another ‘stop’ along the way – Pi Haḥiroth – let us look briefly at a summary of this stop before looking further at other key verses in this chapter:.

Stop 3 – Pi Haḥiroth  

This stop – פִּי הַחִירֹת Pi Haḥiroth – Strong’s H6367 means, “place where sedge grows”, with the word פִּי ‘Pi’ or ‘pey’ meaning ‘mouth’ and הַחִירֹת Haḥiroth meaning ‘wrath’.

The imagery of wrath out of the mouth is something we can identify with, as we consider the words in:

Ḥazon/Revelation 12:14-15 “And the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, to fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. 15 And out of his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river after the woman, to cause her to be swept away by the river.”

The serpent unleashes wrath out of his mouth against the woman in the wilderness, and here we have the parallel of Pharaoh, unleashing his wrath against Yisra’ĕl, by pursuing them when they were camped here..

Yisra’ĕl was helped here as they crossed through the Sea of Reeds on dry land and Pharaoh and his army was killed in the sea! What a wonderful parallel we see in Ḥazon/Revelation of the woman being helped:

Ḥazon/Revelation 12:16 “And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.”

In Ḥazon/Revelation 13:1 we see the beast coming out of the sea from the dead!.

It was here after Pi Haḥiroth and having crossed through the Sea of Reeds that Mosheh proclaimed praise for יהוה after Pharaoh and his whole army had died and was swallowed up by the sea:

Shemoth/Exodus 15:11 “Who is like You, O יהוה, among the mighty ones? Who is like You, great in set-apartness, awesome in praises, working wonders?”

A Contrasting parallel we see in Ḥazon/Revelation 13:4, in what the people of the world marvel at by the appearance of the beast out of the sea:

“And they worshipped the dragon who gave authority to the beast. And they worshipped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to fight with him?”

What we see here, is the blasphemies being spewed out of the mouths of the masses in worship of the beast!

Our breath we have been given is to give praise unto יהוה our Elohim and none other!

Tehillah/Psalm 150:6 “Let all that have breath praise Yah. Praise Yah!”.

Pi Haḥiroth was situated east of בַּעַל צְפוֹן Ba‘al Tsephon – Strong’s H1189 which means ‘lord of the north’ or ‘lord of the hidden’ or ‘secret place’ and they camped near Miḡdol.

The Hebrew word בַּעַל Ba‘al – Strong’s H1168 means, ‘lord, husband, landowner’ and was also the actual name of a supreme male divinity of the Phoenicians or Kenaʽanites..

The Hebrew word צְפוֹן Tsephon – Strong’s H6828 means, ‘north’ which comes from the primitive root word צָפַן tsaphan – Strong’s H6845 meaning, ‘to hide, treasure up, ambush, concealed’.

It is here that we realise that amidst the blasphemies and threats of the enemy we find refuge in יהוה – He is our ‘hiding place’..

We know that the dragon will fight those guarding the commands of Elohim and possessing the witness of יהושע Messiah and this calls for the faithful endurance on the part of the set-apart ones!

The place called Miḡdol – מִגְדֹּל – Strong’s H4024 was near here and means ‘tower’ – we know that the Name of יהוה is a strong tower, the righteous run into it and are safe! May this remind us that no matter how much persecution we may come under – we have a Name that gives us safety and refuge!.

This stop also helps us to realise that no matter how much persecution we come under, as we stay in Messiah, we are safe.

Now, another vital lesson we can take from this is that we are to watch our own mouths.

Ya’aqoḇ/James 3:10 “Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing, my brothers, this should not be so.” .

What we can learn from the parallels, between what happened here and what is recorded in Ḥazon/Revelation, is that while the true worshippers worship the Father in Spirit and Truth – the masses will worship the beast, for both sides use the same wording… “Who is like…?”

May our mouths declare only praise for יהוה our Elohim!.

What we can also learn for this ‘starting point’ is that it represents for us a picture of dying to self and being raised to new life in Messiah! When the children of Yisra’ĕl came to this place there was nowhere for them to run to as the threat of Pharaoh and his army came pursuing them from behind.

They had the sea in front of them and the Mitsrians hot on their tails.

With the Sea of Reeds being opened up for them to pass through on dry land and coming to safety on the other side while their enemies drowned in the sea is a picture of immersion in the Name of יהושע, which saves us from the wrath of Elohim!

Iḇ’rim/Hebrews 11:29 “By belief, they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, and when the Mitsrites tried it, they were drowned.”.

Verse 2-12

יהוה tells Yisra’ĕl to turn or ‘turn back’ – a change of direction from which they were going and were told to go and travel on a rougher terrain – up until this point it had been pretty safe and a reasonable easy traders route which now took a turn by being instructed to travel down a narrow winding pass between high mountains through a ‘wadi’, until they would reach Pi Haḥiroth..

The Hebrew root word that is translated as ‘turn’ is the word שׁוּב shuḇ – Strong’s H7725 which means, ‘to turn back, return, repent, recover’, meaning to turn away from sin and turn back to Elohim and follow in His ways.

His way may often seem to be longer and tougher, yet we realise that His way protects!.

In the ancient pictographic letters שׁוּב shuḇ – Strong’s H7725 looks like this:.

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Shin – שׁ:

This is the letter ‘shin’ which in the ancient script is pictured as, , which is ‘two front teeth’ and carries the meaning of ‘sharp or press, chew or devour’; which is what the teeth do, and also speaks of the sharpened word that comes forth from the mouth, as the teeth ‘chew’ or ‘meditate’ on the Truth, making what comes forth pure and sharp! It also carries the understanding of consuming or destroying – as teeth do to food..

Waw/Vav – וּ:

This is the Hebrew letter ‘waw’ or ‘vav’ which in the ancient script is pictured as , which is a peg or ‘tent peg’, which was used for securing or tying down of the tent or other items. The possibility of it having a Y-shape is to show that it prevents the rope from slipping off. The root meaning of this letter is ‘to add, secure or hook’..

Beyt – ב:

The ancient script has this letter as , which pictures a tent floor plan and means, ‘house’ or ‘tent’. It represents family and the importance of those who are inside the tent as opposed to the tent structure itself..

When we understand the combination of these pictures as rendering a returning or recalling to mind, we are able to recognise that the teeth, which speaks of a ‘pressing’, and the picture of the peg that secures, and the house which speaks of dwelling, we are able to understand this representing the following:.

THE SECURE DWELLING PLACE THAT IS TO BE RETURNED TO.

This word in the ancient form represents for us a:

RETURNING TO THE SECURE HOUSE WHERE WE ARE FED,

AS WE MEDITATE ON THE WORD OF THE HOUSE.

Pharaoh would have thought that they were confused and actually had an opportunity to catch them as they were seemingly trapped..

The Hebrew root word that is translated as ‘entangled’ is בּוּךְ buḵ – Strong’s H943 which means, ‘to perplex, confuse, wander aimlessly, restless, entangled’.

Pharaoh might have thought this, yet Yisra’ĕl were in no way confused or entangled!.

When we begin to walk in Messiah and stay in Him, as we submit under His leading and guidance and following His Torah, we must realise that to the enemy or system which we have come out from, our walk may look to them like a confusing walk, and they often may accuse us of being confused and entangled in a wrong path of legalism!.

Sadly, they do not realise that being under the cloud of יהוה and walk in subjection to His ways is far from confusing!

This word is also used in:

Yo’ěl/Joel 1:18 “How the beasts moan! The herds of cattle are restless, because they have no pasture. The flocks of sheep also perish.”

This is a clear metaphoric rebuke to a disobedient and rebellious people who, for a lack of proper guidance and teaching, had been caused to be without a pasture and lacked proper food!

And when people do not have proper food, they become restless and this leads to rebellion due to ignorance!.

‘Uncharted territory’ had them trapped, is what Pharaoh thought, and by all accounts it would seem that they were entangled, as it appeared to be a foolish route to take, as they were headed for a dead end, and many would have thought that by following the instructions of יהוה, had just caused them to get trapped.

How sad it is today, when we see the same argument being used as an excuse to not follow the Torah, as many do not see the reason for following instructions, that may not, at the time, make sense to them – yet, as we trust in יהוה and are obedient, then we find that He leads us, even at times when it may seem like we are going through some valleys of trouble; yet we are to fear no evil – for He is with us!

This was part of יהוה’s plan – so that not only would Yisra’ĕl know that He is יהוה, but so too would the Mitsrites!

This is a great lesson for us to stand firm in guarding all His instructions, even under the most extreme pressured situations!

Many of the Yisra’ĕlites complained and grumbled against Mosheh and even said it would have been better to stay as slaves in Mitsrayim! What do you do when under extreme pressure – give in to compromise to get temporary ease and grumble against the Torah (Mosheh) or do you stick it out, even when it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense?.

Fear of the enemy can make people do some really stupid things and cause many to make rash decisions in haste, decisions that can cost them their life.

Let us face it – Yisra’ĕl had the world’s strongest army on their backs and they were headed into a trap – and in their minds they were still slaves!

They even start romanticising how it used to be, forgetting of course about the whips and about their children being thrown into the Nile and the hard labour of having to work 24/7 with no provision etc.

Sadly, some people prefer to live with the pain of enslavement that they are used to rather than take the risks that come with change..

Today, so many will not come out of church for fear of the unknown, even though they will admit that the church system is wrong they somehow prefer to sit under its harsh regime of man-made enslavement to doctrinal rules and forsake that which leads to life – The Living Torah!

The question to the grumblers here, should have, in essence, been the following:

“If they wanted to stay in Mitsrayim, why did they eat of the Pěsaḥ Meal?”.

Today, we have a stern warning for those who claim to partake of the Lamb and claim to walk in Messiah, while straying back to Mitsrayim so to speak and grumble against the Torah (Mosheh):

Iḇ’rim/Hebrews 10:26-29 “For if we sin purposely after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a slaughter offering for sins, 27 but some fearsome anticipation of judgment, and a fierce fire which is about to consume the opponents. 28 Anyone who has disregarded the Torah of Mosheh dies without compassion on the witness of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment do you think shall he deserve who has trampled the Son of Elohim underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was set apart as common, and insulted the Spirit of favour?”.

Verse 5

Pharaoh suddenly realised that his slave labour had gone and wanted them back!

The church, and the systems of the world, will only pursue you for one reason – so that they can have their slaves back – and what we can learn from this exodus is that the church or representatives of the church may only pursue you for a short while – simply because they do not want to lose any income or have a drop in their attendance figures!

But once you have fully come out and washed yourself in the Blood of Messiah of all the lies and traditions of falsehood then they cease from trying to get you back, although they may chirp or comment from the side-lines!.

Verse 8

יהוה strengthened Pharaoh’s heart and went after Yisra’ĕl.

The Hebrew root word for ‘pursued’ is רָדַף raḏaph – Strong’s H7291 and carries the meaning, ‘to pursue, chase, follow closely after, aim to secure, run after, hunt, persecute’.

And in recognising that the enemy was hot on their heels they needed to trust יהוה and be strong and courageous!

The enemy seeks to devour the true believers and he will not stop for a moment and will try to trap the believers in any way he can; and in recognising this we who are being ‘pursued’ by an angry enemy, must in response make sure that we are ‘pursuing’ יהוה with our all!

This same word רָדַף raḏaph – Strong’s H7291 is used in:

Yeshayahu/Isaiah 51:1 “Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness, seeking יהוה: Look to the rock you were hewn from, and to the hole of the pit you were dug from.”

And in the context of pursuing and running after, we note that it is after righteousness and not anything else..

If one is truly pursuing something then the focus of the pursuit is so intense on that which is being pursued that there can be no effort spared for anything else, lest the one who is pursuing loses ground on that which he is closely chasing after; and so we, that are called to listen, are the ones who are or should be hotly pursuing righteousness with our all – are you?

Mishlĕ/Proverbs 12:28 “In the way of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death.”

This makes it very clear – when you are pursuing righteousness your path of pursuit is a sure path of life and therefore to pursue righteousness is to walk in Messiah and walk according to His commands diligently and with great delight.

He is the Living Torah – The word made flesh – so our path is guided by the Torah, which lights our way! Any other path is dark and is destined to death! For when you are not pursuing יהוה, you will be ‘pursued’ and devoured by the enemy!.

Yisra’ĕl went out ‘defiantly’ which translated from the phrase: בְּיָד רָמָה b’yaḏ ramah, which comes from the two root words:

1) יָד  yaḏ – Strong’s H3027 is a primitive root which is translated as, ‘hand, command, authority, power, tenon, side’, and the primary meaning of this noun is “the terminal part of the arm used to perform functions of man’s will.”, and we understand in the Hebraic mind-set that one’s hand symbolises what one does or one’s ‘works’ and to us as believers it speaks of our works of righteousness – that is the guarding and doing of His commands.

2) The second Hebrew root word that is used for ‘defiantly’ is רָמָה – ramah which comes from the root word רוּם rum – Strong’s H7311 and in the positive sense it can carry the meaning, ‘to be high or exalted, to be lifted up, boldly, triumphant’.

So, as Pharaoh pursued Yisra’ĕl – they went out with a ‘high hand’ – a clear picture of the hand of יהוה that was being exalted by His people as His heavy Hand had come down on their enemies and was about to do so again!

What we see here from this in connecting the hand being lifted up in boldness, we see a picture of how we too are called to be bold, and as we walk in righteousness and guard to ‘do’ all His commands, we see that in our obedience of putting our hand to all He has commanded us, is a clear indication that we submit to Him who is from above and we work unto Him, and in doing so we are able to escape from our enemies who hotly pursue us!.

Verse 11-12

The Yisra’ĕlites began complaining, and not so long after having come out ‘defiantly’!!!

There are so many who start with heated enthusiasm, yet when the threats come closer and the battle seems hopeless, many begin to complain and long to be back under the comfort zones of compromised lifestyles!

They even said it would have been better for them to serve the Mitsrians than die in the Wilderness!

So many today are saying the same thing, as they refuse to leave the church system and claim that it is better for them to serve the system that has brought them up – one that their fathers and grandfathers have been in, and so, they refuse to learn anything other than what they have been taught all along, even after the lies and traditions have been exposed!

They simply say that it does not mean ‘that’ it for them – and in the process, they are unwilling to count the cost of coming out of man-made systems of worship that are rooted in falsehood and abominable worship.

They would rather prefer to ‘find their life’ in Mitsrayim (the world and church system) than ‘lose their life’ for the sake Messiah and the call to walk in true righteousness!

Mattithyahu/Matthew 10:39 “He who has found his life shall lose it, and he that has lost his life for My sake shall find it.”.

Verse 13 – A sure promise!

Don’t be afraid! Stand still!

Intense military orders given by Mosheh!

A call for strength in their faith in Elohim who fights for them!

They had their orders – stand firm!

Tehillah/Psalm 27:1-3 “יהוה is my light and my deliverance; whom should I fear? יהוה is the refuge of my life; Whom should I dread? 2 When evil-doers come against me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and my enemies, they shall stumble and fall. 3 Though an army encamps against me, my heart does not fear; though battle comes up against me, even then I would be trusting.”

In Tehillah/Psalm 27:1 we see straight up Dawiḏ’s bold statement of faith in יהוה in recognition of who יהוה is to him on a very personal level.

Dawiḏ says that יהוה is his light and his deliverance and that יהוה is his refuge.

Having said that let me show you the essence of what he is expressing here as a very bold statement at a very testing time of his life.

The Hebrew word that is translated as ‘my light’ is אוֹרִי ôriy, which, at its root, is the word אוֹר or – Strong’s H215 which means, ‘to be or become light, give light, shine’ and this infinitely profound Name of Elohim, as his light, is only found here in this passage, of which there is only one other expression in the Scriptures that can be compared to it, which is found in Yeshayahu/Isaiah 60:1, in the phrase “… your light has come…”, which, in the Hebrew, is written as בָא אוֹרֵךְ ḇa ôreḵa – and is a clear reference to Messiah – the Light of the world!

Yoḥanan/John 12:46 “I have come as a light into the world, so that no one who believes in Me should stay in darkness.” .

What Dawiḏ was acknowledging here, in the bold confession of his faith, was that even if the darkest hour of night was to break out upon him, or any trouble or spiritual conflict should come up against him, he had יהוה as his light; and as long as he was “in” יהוה, his Light, then he did not need to fear any danger of an ‘eclipse or darkening/hiding’ of the light so to speak.

Dawiḏ understood that the fear of יהוה is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Set-Apart One is understanding, that comes with walking in the Light..

We are children of light and must not walk in darkness – יהוה has called us out of darkness into His marvellous light.

In Hebrew, darkness carries with it the understanding of ignorance whereas light can symbolise or mean knowledge.

We have been called out of ignorance into the knowledge of His Truth and we must not walk in ignorance any longer:

Yoḥanan Aleph/1 John 1:6 “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and are not doing the truth.”

Eph’siyim/Ephesians 5:8 “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Master. Walk as children of light.”

His confidence in perilous times was as a result of walking in the fear of יהוה..

Dawiḏ also declared that יהוה was his deliverance, which is expressed as וְיִשְׁעִי veyish’iy – which literally translated means, ‘and He saves me’ – Strong’s H3469, which comes from the root יָשַׁע yasha – Strong’s H3467 which means, ‘deliver, brought salvation, saviour, saves’..

When I saw this, I saw exactly what Dawiḏ was declaring – that it was יהוה who saves him and is his deliverer – not an agent of יהוה – but the Light Himself, with the emphasis being placed on who it is that saves – ‘He’ – the Light – יהוה Himself!!!.

Furthermore, Dawiḏ declares that יהוה is ‘the refuge of my life’ – מָעוֹז־חַיַּי – ma’oz ḥay’iy, and the word מָעוֹז ma’oz – Strong’s H4581 means, ‘a place or means of safety, protection, defence, fortress, helmet’.

Why am I stressing the obvious here?

Well because I want us to understand the clear declaration Dawiḏ is making here – he is openly acknowledging that יהוה is a personal Elohim, He is not just the Light and Deliverer and Refuge, but Dawiḏ proclaims – He is my Light, and my Light saves me and My light who saves me is my protector and in Him I am safe!

Within this declaration of the first verse Dawiḏ asks 2 questions:

firstly, “whom should I fear?” and

secondly, “whom should I dread?”.

There are two different words used here in the Hebrew for ‘fear’ and ‘dread’..

The root word used for ‘fear’ is יָרֵא yare – Strong’s H3372 which means, ‘to fear, be afraid, reverence, respect’ and in the tense this is written in (qal active), it actually carries the meaning of, ‘to stand in awe of, be awed, to reverence, honour, respect’.

And the word for ‘I dread’ is אֶפְחָד – ephḥaḏ – and comes from the root word פָּחַד paḥaḏ – Strong’s H6342 which means, “to dread, to shake or be in dread or terror” and can mean to “have an attitude or emotion of severe distress over impending danger or trouble, with a focus that it can be so intense that it will cause physical trembling and shaking”. It can also mean “to be in a state of profound awe and respect, so intense the body may react with trembling and shaking”..

What Dawiḏ is declaring here could be best expressed as follows:

“יהוה is my light, and He saves me – now whom should I fear or whom should I stand in awe of or show respect and have reverence for?”

The answer is obvious – יהוה – our Light and Salvation!!!

Then he asks the second question which in essence is saying,

“Because יהוה is my strong tower and refuge for my soul, whom shall I be afraid of or who should cause me to be in distress or terror?”

Again, the answer is obvious – no one!!!.

Romiyim/Romans 8:31 “What then shall we say to this? If Elohim is for us, who is against us?”

יהוה is his salvation in regards to everything that oppresses him and is the stronghold of his life in regards to everything that exposes him to peril!

Just as Dawiḏ can confidently declare this, so too should we, and it gets even better!.

Stand still and see the ‘salvation’ of יהוה! What Mosheh was basically saying is this: “Stand still and see יהושע deliver His people today!”.

Yirmeyahu/Jeremiah 42:11 “Do not be afraid of the sovereign of Baḇel, of whom you are afraid. Do not be afraid of him,’ declares יהוה, ‘for I am with you, to save you and deliver you from his hand.”.

STAND STILL!

The Hebrew word that is translated as ‘stand still’ is הִתְיַצְבוּ – hith’yatsḇu which comes from the root verb יָצַב yatsaḇ – Strong’s H3320 which means, ‘to set, station oneself, take one’s stand, present yourself’ and is written in the reflexive action, highlight the clear response we are to have to the confidence of the sure presence of Elohim in our lives, as His presence should naturally cause us to be diligent in taking a firm stand in the Truth!.

In the LXX (Septuagint – Greek translation of the Tanak – O.T.), the Greek word that is used here for ‘stand’ is ἵστημι histēmi – Strong’s G2476 which means, ‘to make to stand, to stand firm, be established, stand upright, stand ready and prepared, be of a steadfast mind, to uphold and sustain the authority of something’, and is also the same Greek word that is used in Eph’siyim/Ephesians 6, where we are told to ‘stand’ firm in the armour of Elohim.

And so, we can clearly see that this ‘standing’ is an equipped standing, in that the required dress code (that of righteousness – which is to guard to do all the commands) is adhered to and is functional, in us being a faithful set-apart priesthood that is able, as good stewards with that which He has given us, to stand before our High Priest and King – יהושע Messiah!.

SEE THE DELIVERANCE OF יהוה

The Hebrew word that is translated as ‘and see’ is – וּרְאוּ – u’re’u which comes from the root verb רָאָה ra’ah – Strong’s H7200 meaning, ‘to see, look, observe, pay close attention, consider’..

In the ancient script this word also reveals a great truth to us as רָאָה ra’ah is pictured as:.

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Resh – רָ

The ancient script has this letter as and is pictured as ‘the head of a man’ and has the meaning of the head of a man as well as chief, top, begging or first. Top, as in the top or head of a body and chief, as in the head of a tribe or people as well as the one who rules the people..

Aleph – אָ

The ancient script has this letter as and is pictured as ‘the head of an ox’ representing strength and power.

Hey – ה

The ancient script has this letter as and is pictured as a man standing with his arms raised up and out as if pointing to something, and in essence carries the meaning of ‘behold’ as in when looking at something very great.

It can also have the meaning to ‘breath’ or ‘sigh’ as when looking at a great sight and having your breath taken away so to speak! It also has the meaning of revelation or to reveal something by pointing it out..

To see and be functional in seeing as we should can render the following meaning for us:.

THE BEGINNING OF OUR STRENGTH

IS IN THE REVELATION OF MESSIAH OUR HEAD,

WHO WE PRAISE AND SERVE WITH OUR ALL.

This root word for ‘see’ has the similar phonetic sound as the root word for ‘shepherd/feed’, which is the word רָעָה ra’ah – Strong’s H7462 which can carry the meaning of ‘shepherd’ as well as ‘to pasture, graze, consume, feed’; yet this word contains a different letter! Instead of an ‘אָ’ – ‘aleph’ it contains the letter ‘עָ’ – ‘ayin’..

Let us look at the pictographic rendering of this word for ‘Shepherd’:.

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Resh – רָ

The ancient script has this letter as and is pictured as ‘the head of a man’ and has the meaning of the head of a man as well as chief, top, begging or first. Top as in the top or head of a body and chief an is head of a tribe or people as well as the one who rules the people..

Ayin – עָ  

In the ancient script this letter is drawn as – and is pictured as an eye and carries the meaning of ‘insight and understanding’ or that to which you look upon..

Hey – ה  

We have already discussed this above – as and is pictured as a man standing with his arms raised up and out..

In looking at these pictures, in terms of the word ‘shepherd’ or ‘feed’, we are able to clearly see that the following:

TRUE SHEPHERD IS THE HEAD OF ALL,

AS SEEN THROUGH THE ‘EXALTED’ MAN!

OR

BEHOLD OUR HEAD UPON WHOM WE FIX OUR EYES!.

Who is the One we are to fix our eyes upon?

Iḇ’rim tells us to throw off all sin and that which entangles and look attentively upon our Master:

Iḇ’rim/Hebrews 12:2 “looking to the Princely Leader and Perfecter of our belief, יהושע, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the stake, having despised the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of Elohim.”.

We are told to be ‘looking’ to Messiah – and as we can see from the verse before this one, is that in order to be able to properly ‘look’ at Messiah, we need to throw off and lay aside every weight and sin that easily entangles us and run with endurance – looking intently at our King as we run faithfully as servants of the Most High Elohim!.

The Greek word for ‘looking’ is ἀφοράω – aphorao – Strong’s G872 which means ‘to look/ to turn eyes away from all other things and fix them on something’, and metaphorically speaking, it means ‘to fix the mind upon/ give full attention/ looking intently upon/ to take heed’, and it also means, ‘to consider carefully, attentively look at’ and comes from the two Greek words:

1) ἀπό apo – Strong’s G575 which is a preposition and participle that means, ‘from, away from, at, in, to’ and

2) the word ὁράω horaō – Strong’s G3708 which means, ‘to see, perceive, attend to, take heed, see with the mind, beware, to see as in becoming acquainted with by experience’..

We are to look to Messiah and careful consider our ways, and we are at the same time to ensure that our eyes are not looking elsewhere as we ‘take heed’ of the corrupt teachings of man-made dogmas and traditions that lead people astray..

Here, in Shemoth, we are able to recognise the clear instruction to ‘stand still and see the deliverance of יהוה’ being still very much alive and extremely important for us to hear today, as we take a firm stand in our Master, Elohim and Saviour!.

The phrase ‘the deliverance of יהוה’ is written in the Hebrew text as follows:

אֶת־יְשׁוּעַת יהוה – eth-yehsuath YAHWEH..

Let us briefly look at the wording of this phrase:

The Hebrew word אֵת eth – Strong’s H853 is a word that is seen as an ‘untranslated participle’, and is used as a direct object marker for which we have no equivalent in English, therefore this is used as a sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English, but generally preceding and indicating the accusative, which is the grammatical case that marks the direct object of a verb or the object of any or several prepositions.

It therefore marks the sign of the action of deliverance and also represents for us a powerful picture of ‘who’ it is that is doing the action!

The untranslated participle is written with the two letters ‘aleph’ and ‘taw’ – the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. יהוה, who is the ‘Aleph and Taw’ (אֵת) is the one whose deliverance we are to see!.

The Hebrew word translated here as ‘deliverance’ is יְשׁוּעַת yehsuath which comes from the root word יְשׁוּעָה yeshuah – Strong’s H3444 which means, ‘salvation, deliverance, victory, help, security, save’ and comes from the primitive root verb יָשַׁע yasha – Strong’s H3467 meaning, ‘to deliver, save, salvation’.

This root word is written here in the ‘construct state’.

When a noun precedes another noun, the first noun is in the construct state, meaning that it is connected to the second noun—therefore we have two words together forming one concept..

Here, the two nouns that are linked together are: יְשׁוּעַת יהוה – yehsuath YAHWEH

When a feminine noun ending with the letter ה (hey), such as יְשׁוּעָה yeshuah, is used in the construct state, the ה (hey) is converted to a ת (taw), which in this case it becomes יְשׁוּעַת yehsuath..

In Berěshith/Genesis we find many construct phrases where the second word of the construct is יהוה such as “the face of יהוה” or “the Word of יהוה”, or “the Mount of יהוה”, as well as “the voice of יהוה”, to name a few; whereby each time the first word (word, voice, face etc.) belong to the second word (יהוה)..

Why I am telling you this, is to simply highlight that the deliverance we are to look to is of יהוה and no one else – fro He is our deliverer!!!

Yeshayahu/Isaiah 12:2 “See, Ěl is my deliverance, I trust and am not afraid. For Yah, יהוה, is my strength and my song; and He has become my deliverance.”

Here, we see the root word יְשׁוּעָה yeshuah – Strong’s H3444 being used twice here.

The first one – יְשׁוּעָתִי – is translated as ‘yeshuathi’, which means, ‘my deliverance/ my salvation’ and the second one – לִישׁוּעָה – is translated as ‘liyshuah’, which means ‘he has become my salvation/deliverance’.

While this may sound a little too technical and confusing, the reason for me giving a brief description of these technicalities is to clearly highlight the TRUTH that יהוה, who is the ‘aleph and taw’, is our Saviour/Deliverer!

The Name of יהוה is derived from the root word הָיָה hayah – Strong’s H1961 which means, ‘to be, to become, to be in existence’, and when Elohim spoke to Mosheh He said, “I AM that which I AM”, and told Him to tell the Yisra’ĕlites that the I AM had sent him. (Shemoth/Exodus 3:14).

I AM THAT WHICH I AM – This phrase is written in Hebrew as:

אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה – eyeh asher eyeh

The first אֶהְיֶה eyeh is written as a proper noun, singular, masculine, while the second אֶהְיֶה eyeh is written in the qal active verb tense and, in essence, we see Elohim making it clear here to Mosheh, that

“The One who exists is the One who causes to exist, or gives existence” or

“The All existing One is the One who gives existence”

Literally speaking, it can render,

“I AM the One who causes to be”, or

“I AM the One who brings into being”, as well as

“I AM the life-giver, the giver of all existence”, and

“I AM the ever living self-consistent and unchangeable One”.

This is a title of our Elohim, with a focus on presence, care, concern and relationship.

.

Literally, this phrase can mean ‘I AM that I AM’, or rather ‘I exist’, or ‘I cause to be’.

The two root words that are used here, are:

1) הָיָה hayah – Strong’s H1961 which means, ‘to be, exist, become, happen’ and

2) אֲשֶׁר asher – Strong’s H834 which means, ‘who, which, that’..

This however, is not The Name of Elohim, but was rather an explanation that would lead up to the revelation of His Name, which is clearly declared as: יהוה YAHWEH – Strong’s H3068, which is derived from the root word הָיָה hayah – Strong’s H1961..

The clear answer that יהוה gave to Mosheh was that the causer of life – the all existent and unchangeable One – had sent Him!!!

He was then to further say to the Yisra’ĕlites that יהוה – the Elohim of Aḇraham, the Elohim of Yitsḥaq and the Elohim of Ya’aqoḇ, had sent him to them!

He was also told that this would be the Name of the Almighty, self-existent and unchangeable One, forever – and this would be His remembrance throughout all generations!!!.

What we must clearly understand here, is that the Name of יהוה is and will always be associated with Aḇraham, Yitsḥaq and Ya’aqoḇ and this clearly points to the Covenants of Promise that He brings us near to, in the Blood of Messiah, our deliverer, who causes us to enter in and be grafted into the Covenants of Promise and become part of Yisra’ĕl, His Bride!!!.

Many today want to discard the Covenants that were made with Aḇraham, Yitsḥaq and Ya’aqoḇ, yet here, we clearly see that the Name of יהוה is forever linked with these; and the Renewed Covenant, is a restoration of these Covenants that are, once and for all, sealed in the Blood of Messiah.

Our deliverance is associated with His Name and His Favour is extended to us on the basis of His Covenants, and if we neglect to call upon His Name and recognise that which His Name is associated with and our responsibility to walk in a Covenant relationship with the One who causes all to exist, then we cannot draw near, for we would not have recognised whose Blood has sealed the True Covenants of Promise!.

It is from the word הָיָה hayah – Strong’s H1961 that we get the Name of יהוה YAHWEH – Strong’s 3068.

The above Name is also known as the Tetragrammaton (four letters), and the four Hebrew letters that are translated as YHWH form the True Scriptural Name of The Almighty El.

Translated as follows:

י (yod) – Y; ה (hay) – H; ו (vav) – W or V; ה (hay) – H = יהוה YHWH.

The Name has been pronounced in various ways, most commonly and correctly as YAHWEH or YAHVEH, whereas some have erroneously used the pronunciations of Yahvah, Yahuah, or Yahovah. The pronunciation of ‘Jehovah’ was unknown until 1520 when it was introduced by Galantinus and was greatly contested, as there was no English letter ‘j’ in existence up until that point.

I personally say and prefer YAHWEH, based on this being the most accurate pronunciation we are able to deduce, when using the proper Hebrew rules of grammar, giving us a greater understanding that when we say ‘YAHWEH’, we are actually declaring that ‘the I AM is the One who causes me to be’, as the Name YAHWEH is written in the 3^rd person causative form, of the verb הָיָה hayah, whereas when YAHWEH speaks and says ‘EHYEH’, it is written in the 1^st person absolute form of הָיָה hayah, as He is speaking and declares that He is the One who causes to be..

For a more in-depth study on the correct pronunciation of the Name of יהוה (YAHWEH) please see the article titled, Grammatical study from Scripture on confirming the pronunciation of the Name of יהוה, which can be viewed from our site (https://atfotc.com) under the ‘articles’ menu or by simply clicking on the following link:

https://atfotc.com/grammatical-study-from-scripture-on-confirming-the-pronunciation-of-the-name-of/

This article will help the reader understand the correct transliteration and pronunciation of the Name of the Most-High!.

יהוה (YAHWEH) is His Name forever, and it is the Name by which He is to be remembered from generation to generation!

That is very simple and easy enough for a child to understand, yet sadly, we recognise how it has been ‘forgotten’ or rather ‘hidden’ or ‘suppressed’, under the delusion of lawless traditions and dogmas of man?.

יהוה is the Name of the Elohim of their fathers, which Mosheh was to tell the Yisra’ĕlites.

יהוה means:

“He (The I AM) is the One who causes me to be”!

This is very powerful, for every time you call on the Name of יהוה, you are declaring who it is that causes you to be!!! You are declaring from your lips the One who gives you life, and who made you, and who gives you your very existence!

And we are to declare His Name, giving praise to the Great I AM who causes us to be!.

In the Ten Commandments as we know it, or rather better expressed as the Ten Words of יהוה, which were spoken to the Yisra’ĕlites from Mount Sinai, and then written down by the Finger of Elohim on two tablets of stone, the 3^rd Commandment is:

Exodus/Shemoth 20:7 “You do not bring the Name of יהוה your Elohim to naught, for יהוה does not leave the one unpunished who brings His Name to naught.”.

His Name is mentioned a little under 7000 times in the Tanak (O.T.) – and yet they managed over the centuries to bring His Name to naught, by not speaking it and replacing it with foreign titles and references..

We are also given further insight into the revelation of the Great I AM, as we see being displayed or spoken through the ancient pictographic script, which renders the Name of יהוה as follows:.

  .

Yod – י

In the Ancient Script, this is the letter ‘yad or yod’ which is pictured as – – which is the picture of an arm and hand and carries the meaning of ‘work, make, throw’ from the primary functions of the arm and hand and also represents worship or giving thanks in the extending of hands as a gesture of this. This also reveals to us a stretched-out arm and hand..

Hey – ה

The ancient script has this letter as and is pictured as a man standing with his arms raised up and out as if pointing to something, and in essence carries the meaning of ‘behold’ as in when looking at something very great. It can also have the meaning to ‘breath’ or ‘sigh’ as when looking at a great sight and having your breath taken away so to speak! It also has the meaning of revelation or to reveal something by pointing it out..

Waw – ו

The ancient pictographic form of this letter is , which is a peg or ‘tent peg’ or nail, which was used for securing or tying the tent or other items. The possibility of it having a Y-shape is to show that it prevents the rope from slipping off. The root meaning of this letter is ‘to add, secure or hook’..

In the pictographic representation of the Name of Elohim we are able to clearly see how He, the All Existing One, revealed Himself to His Creation through His Outstretched Arm and Hand.

The two pictures of the man and the peg in between them also gives us insight as to how He would come and reveal Himself in the form of a man and secure the Covenants of promise, and in this we are able to see the two comings of Messiah..

BEHOLD, THE OUTSTRETCHED ARM OF THE ALL EXISTING ONE

SHALL COME AND SECURE HIS COVENANT

AND REDEEM US IN ORDER TO ESTABLISH HIS HOUSE

FOR WHICH HE IS COMING AGAIN!.

Shemoth/Exodus 6:6 “Say, therefore, to the children of Yisra’ĕl, ‘I am יהוה, and I shall bring you out from under the burdens of the Mitsrites, and shall deliver you from their enslaving, and shall redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments.”

Yeshayahu/Isaiah 53:1 “Who has believed our report? And to whom was the arm of יהוה revealed?”.

When Messiah came many did not believe and were unable to recognise the Arm of יהוה:

Yoḥanan/John 12:37-40 “But though He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, 38 that the word of Yeshayahu the prophet might be filled, which he spoke, “יהוה, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of יהוה been revealed?” 39 Because of this they were unable to believe, because again Yeshayahu said: 40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, so that they should not see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and turn, and I should heal them.”

This Yeshayahu said when he saw the esteem of יהוה and spoke of Him! It is this Arm of יהוה that shepherds the flock of Yisra’ĕl!

Yeshayahu/Isaiah 40:10-11 “See, the Master יהוה comes with a strong hand, and His arm rules for Him. See, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him. 11 He feeds His flock like a shepherd, He gathers the lambs with His arm, and carries them in His bosom, gently leading those who are with young.”

The Name יהושע (YAHUSHUA) comes from two words:

1) The Name of יהוה – Strong’s H3068 and

2) the root verb יָשַׁע yasha – Strong’s H3467 meaning, ‘to deliver, save, salvation’, clearly declaring that יהוה is our Saviour!

The Name of Messiah – יהושע – contains the first 3 letters of יהוה – and literally means, ‘יהוה is our Deliverer’ or ‘יהוה is our Salvation’!!!

So, when we call upon the Name of יהושע, we are in fact declaring the One who causes us to be (The Great I AM) is our Deliverer!!!

The Name of יהושע (pronounced – Yahushua) was also brought to nought by the changing of His Name into a Greek hybrid that sadly pointed toward the Greek deity and was welcomed greatly by them.

This is how it happened:

The Greeks did not have a ‘sh’ sound and so, their original rendering of the Name of Yahushua or Yahshua was ‘Yasua’.

We also must remember that there was no ‘j’ sound in any language until the 17^th century, and the even the first translation of the KJV in 1611 did not have a ‘j’.

I want to show you some Scriptures in both the Hebrew and Greek texts that show how Yahushua was written..

Mattithyahu/Matthew 1:18:

“But the birth of יהושע Messiah was as follows: After His mother Miryam was engaged to Yosĕph, before they came together, she was found to be pregnant from the Set-apart Spirit.”

(ISR Scriptures 1998 Edition)

18 του δε ιησου χριστου η γεννησις ουτως ην μνηστευθεισης γαρ της μητρος αυτου μαριας τω ιωσηφ πριν η συνελθειν αυτους ευρεθη εν γαστρι εχουσα εκ πνευματος αγιου

(Elzevir Textus Receptus (1624) : With morphology).

Above, we have a Greek text from 1624 that shows the Name of יהושע in the Greek text as ιησου:

Ιησου : made up of the letters: Ι = iota / η = eta / σ = sigma / ο = omicron / υ = upsilon

When expressed as a name, it could be transliterated as ‘Yesoo’ or ‘Yasooa’ – which would have made sense, as this rendered a close transliteration of ‘Yahshua’ in the Greek.

To further show that this name rendered this, we can see from the LXX (Septuagint – Greek translation of the Tanak (O.T.)) when we see the same Hebrew letters used for Yahushua being used for Yehoshua (bearing in mind that originally vowel pointings in the Hebrew were read in and only written in after the resurrection of Messiah):

Shemoth/Exodus 17:9:

English:

“And Mosheh said to Yehoshua, “Choose for us men and go out, fight with Amalĕq. Tomorrow I am stationing myself on the top of the hill with the rod of Elohim in my hand.”

(ISR Scriptures 1998 Edition)

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֤ה אֶל־יְהוֹשֻׁ֨עַ֙ בְּחַר־לָ֣נוּ אֲנָשִׁ֔ים וְצֵ֖א הִלָּחֵ֣ם בַּעֲמָלֵ֑ק מָחָ֗ר אָנֹכִ֤י נִצָּב֙ עַל־רֹ֣אשׁ הַגִּבְעָ֔ה וּמַטֵּ֥ה הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים בְּיָדִֽי׃

(Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia)

Greek:

⁹ εἶπεν δὲ Μωυσῆς τῷ Ἰησοῦ Ἐπίλεξον σεαυτῷ ἄνδρας δυνατοὺς καὶ ἐξελθὼν παράταξαι τῷ Αμαληκ αὔριον, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἕστηκα ἐπὶ τῆς κορυφῆς τοῦ βουνοῦ, καὶ ἡ ῥάβδος τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν τῇ χειρί μου.

(Septuaginta : With morphology) – LXX Septuagint.

Here we can see another two examples from Ḥazon/Revelation:

Ḥazon/Revelation 22:20:

English:

“He that bears witness of these matters says, “Yes, I am coming speedily.” Aměn. Yes, come, Master יהושע!”

(ISR Scriptures 1998 Edition)

Greek:

20 λεγει ο μαρτυρων ταυτα ναι ερχομαι ταχυ αμην ναι ερχου κυριε ιησου

(Elzevir Textus Receptus (1624): With morphology)

20 Λέγει ὁ μαρτυρῶν ταῦτα, Ναί, ἔρχομαι ταχύ. Ἀμήν, ἔρχου κύριε Ἰησοῦ.

(The Greek New Testament, Fourth Revised Edition (with Morphology).

Ḥazon/Revelation 1:1:

English:

“Revelation of יהושע Messiah, which Elohim gave Him to show His servants what has to take place with speed. And He signified it by sending His messenger to His servant Yoḥanan”

(ISR Scriptures 1998 Edition)

Greek:

1 αποκαλυψις ιησου χριστου ην εδωκεν αυτω ο θεος δειξαι τοις δουλοις αυτου α δει γενεσθαι εν ταχει και εσημανεν αποστειλας δια του αγγελου αυτου τω δουλω αυτου ιωαννη

(Elzevir Textus Receptus (1624): With morphology).

Another example from the Tanak (O.T.) as a further witness to the Greek rendering of the Name of our Messiah:

Zeḵaryah/Zechariah 3:9

English:

“See the stone which I have put before Yehoshua: on one stone are seven eyes. See, I am engraving its inscription,’ declares יהוה of hosts, ‘and I shall remove the guilt of that land in one day.”

(ISR Scriptures 1998 Edition)

Hebrew:

כִּ֣י׀ הִנֵּ֣ה הָאֶ֗בֶן אֲשֶׁ֤ר נָתַ֨תִּי֙ לִפְנֵ֣י יְהוֹשֻׁ֔עַ עַל־אֶ֥בֶן אַחַ֖ת שִׁבְעָ֣ה עֵינָ֑יִם הִנְנִ֧י מְפַתֵּ֣חַ פִּתֻּחָ֗הּ נְאֻם֙ יְהוָ֣ה צְבָא֔וֹת וּמַשְׁתִּ֛י אֶת־עֲוֹ֥ן הָאָֽרֶץ־הַהִ֖יא בְּי֥וֹם אֶחָֽד׃

(Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia)

Greek:

⁹ διότι ὁ λίθος, ὃν ἔδωκα πρὸ προσώπου Ἰησοῦ, ἐπὶ τὸν λίθον τὸν ἕνα ἑπτὰ ὀφθαλμοί εἰσιν, ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ὀρύσσω βόθρον, λέγει κύριος παντοκράτωρ, καὶ ψηλαφήσω πᾶσαν τὴν ἀδικίαν τῆς γῆς ἐκείνης ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ.

(Septuaginta: With morphology).

 

Why I am showing this, is to simply show you that even in the earliest Greek translations, the rendering into the Greek language of the Name of the Messiah was very clear.

There was a huge problem however for the Greeks, who worshipped a false deity called ‘Zeus’, who was believed to be the ‘father of gods and men’; as this ‘Redeemer and Saviour’ of mankind who had come in the flesh, had now, in the Greek, rendered a feminine name.

And this would not be accepted, at large, by the masses who would question the validity of this Saviour that was being proclaimed, and therefore, the scholars added another letter to this name, at the end of the name, in order to render it as a masculine form.

This letter, is known in the Greek as a ‘final sigma’ which later became known as the Greek name rendered as Ἰησοῦς Iēsous – Strong’s G2424 and when transliterated, would be expressed as ‘yeaysoos’ or ‘ee-ay-sooce’ as the last letter ‘ς’ – the final sigma – would now, by Greek grammatical standards, render this as a masculine name and one that would be widely accepted..

Now, you have to think for a moment – when the Greeks heard this name, they would have been pleased, as they would have gladly accepted this hybrid name, for in its rendering they would understand it to be pointing to ‘zeus’ and so their worship of a false deity would be further established under a deformed hybrid name of our Saviour!.

Later on, in the 17^th century the ‘j’ sound was introduced and would replace the Ι = iota that had a ‘ya’ sound with a ‘j’ and therefore the hybrid name that is widely accepted by the masses today – ‘Jesus’ was formulated late in the 17^th century.

This Name has no etymological meaning and certainly does not bear the Name of יהוה.

In other words, the name ‘Jesus’ is less than 400 years old!

At this point we need to ask ourselves the following,

“Who is the one who gets to decide the Saviour’s Name and what it can or cannot be changed to – man or יהוה?”

The answer is very obvious! יהושע is the SAME yesterday, today and forever.

I do hope that I am making this very clear, for who is man to change His Name?.

It has become very evident to us that much has been done over many years to suppress the speaking of the set-apart Names of the Father and the Son, YAHWEH and YAHUSHUA.

This has led to the erroneous transliterations of the True Names, which once again, by the Grace of יהוה our Elohim, is being restored to the lips of His Set Apart people.

It is time for His Bride to call upon the Name that Saves:.

YAHWEH IS OUR SALVATION!!!

יהוה

יהושע

May you begin to call upon the True Names and discover how it is like honey on our lips!

Another factor to consider, when rendering the correct transliteration of the Name of יהושע, is that is should be correctly transliterated as Yahushua and NOT as Yahusha or yeshua, and here is why I say that.

The transliterated word ‘yeshua’, in the Hebrew text, is written as יֵשׁוּעַ Yeshua – Strong’s H3442 and H3443, which renders the meaning, ‘he is saved’, and we also have the word יְשׁוּעָה yeshuah – Strong’s H3444 which means, ‘salvation, deeds of deliverance, victory’ which comes from the root word יָשַׁע yasha – Strong’s H3467 which means, ‘deliver, brought salvation, saviour, saves’..

To put it simply, we take note that many people today will use the term ‘Yeshua’ as a refrence to Messiah, and while we take note that our Messiah is the One who save us, we take note that His Name is not yeshua but is more accurately proclaimed as YAHUSHUA!

As mentioned, we know that vowels were originally read in, by the scribes, and these vowels were later written in to the text, which gave us a better ability to read the text and study the proper grammatical rules that are to be applied..

In writing the vowels in, we take note, as mentioned that a deliberate adjustment was done to the Name of YAHWEH, in order to cause readers, under a false tradition, to not speak the Set-Apart Name of the Most-High, and therefore the vowel pointings that were inserted to the Name of YAHWEH were the vowel pointings of either one of the two words: Adonai, which means ‘my Master’ and Elohim, which means ‘mighty one’..

In this process of eliminating the pronunciation of the Name of YAHWEH, we also take note that the clear prophecy of YAHWEH coming to save, the name of Yehoshua, has the same lettering as the Name of YAHUSHUA Messiah.

The name of יְהוֹשֻׁעַ Yehoshua – Strong’s H3091 means, ‘יהוה is deliverance, יהוה is our deliverer’ – this is the same Name used for יהושע, only with different vowel pointings that were not in the text at the time of these writings of Mosheh!.

Now, the reason for me presenting this to you is to highlight that the pronunciation of Yahusha is incorrect, as many have been erroneously taught that it should be so, under the misguided teaching of the incorrect pronunciation of YAHWEH being ‘Yahuah’, have adapted the rendering of Yahusha as being that which is derived from ‘Yahu’ from their incorrect pronunciation of YHWH, and ‘sha’ from the root word ‘yesha’.

In the article on the correct pronunciation of YAHWEH, I explain why it cannot be Yahuah, so for more on that, please see that article..

For the purposes of what I am highlighting here, I simply want to emphasise that our Saviour’s Name is Yahushua and not Yahusha…. With the correct ‘shua’ sound at the end and not the incorrect ‘sha’ sound.

We are able to come to this deduction, by looking at the Hebrew text of the name of יְהוֹשֻׁעַ Yehoshua – Strong’s H3091.This name is used over 200 times in the Tanak (O.T.) and twice we see this name being written as follows: יְהוֹשׁוּעַ.

As you will notice, this name is written as יְהוֹשֻׁעַ and יְהוֹשׁוּעַ – which gives us a clear indication that the correct pronunciation at the end of the name cannot end with a ‘sha’ sound, but rather, it ends with a ‘shua’ sound, as we take note that the vowel that is used under the letter ‘shin’ in the most common rendering of this name: יְהוֹשֻׁעַ is the ‘qubbuts’ vowel which renders an ‘u’ sound, as in ‘tune’ (ֹשֻׁ) and is confirmed in the rendering of the prolonged form of the name יְהוֹשׁוּעַ – where there is no viowel under the letter shin (שׁ), but is followed by the letter vav/waw, that has a dot in the middle, rendering it as a ‘shureq’ vowel (וּ) that has the sound of ‘u’ as in ‘tune’.

To further highlight this, we take not that the prolonged form of the name of Yehoshua (יְהוֹשׁוּעַ) is used in the following verse, where we have his name being rendered in both forms:

Shophetim/Judges 2:7 “And the people served יהוה all the days of Yehoshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Yehoshua, who had seen all the great works of יהוה which He had done for Yisra’ěl.”

In the Hebrew text this verse is written as follows:

וַיַּעַבְדוּ הָעָם אֶת־יהוה כֹּל יְמֵי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ וְכֹל יְמֵי הַזְּקֵנִים אֲשֶׁר הֶאֱרִיכוּ יָמִים אַחֲרֵי יְהוֹשׁוּעַ אֲשֶׁר רָאוּ אֵת כָּל־מַעֲשֵׂה יהוה הַגָּדוֹל אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל׃

As you will notice, this verse renders the name of Yehoshua in both the shortened and prolonged forms, giving us a clear indication of the correct pronunciation..

The other verse where we see the prolonged form of Yehoshua is in:

Deḇarim/Deuteronomy 3:21 “And I commanded Yehoshua at that time, saying, ‘Your eyes have seen all that יהוה your Elohim has done to these two sovereigns. יהוה does the same to all the reigns which you are passing over.”

In the Hebrew text this verse is written as follows:

וְאֶת־יְהוֹשׁוּעַ צִוֵּיתִי בָּעֵת הַהִוא לֵאמֹר עֵינֶיךָ הָרֹאֹת אֵת כָּל־אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה יהוה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם לִשְׁנֵי הַמְּלָכִים הָאֵלֶּה כֵּן־יַעֲשֶׂה יהוה לְכָל־הַמַּמְלָכוֹת אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה עֹבֵר שָׁמָּה׃.

It is from these two clear witnesses of the Hebrew text that we are able to confirm that the pronunciation of the Name of our Saviour is YAHUSHUA and not just Yeshua or Yahusha, but YAHUSHUA, as we declare that when we call upon the Name of YAHUSHUA, we are declaring that THE I AM WHO, CAUSES ME TO BE, IS MY SAVIOUR!.

For more on this, please see the following 4 articles on our site under the articles menu or by simply clicking the link for each:

MY MASTER AND MY ELOHIM:

https://atfotc.com/my-master-and-my-elohim/

YHWH OUR SAVIOUR! YHWH OUR MESSIAH!

https://atfotc.com/yhwh-our-saviour-yhwh-our-messiah/.

THE MESSENGER OF YHWH

https://atfotc.com/the-messenger-of/.

YHWH IS ONE! YAHUSHUA IS YAHWEH OUR SAVIOUR

https://atfotc.com/yhwh-is-one/.

BACK TO SHEMOTH/EXODUS 14

Verse 14 – יהוה fights for you – so be quiet!!!

Something we would all do well to do – for many of us we tend to say too much and end up in trouble!

The Hebrew root word that is used here for ‘keep silent’ is חָרַשׁ ḥarash – Strong’s H2790 meaning, ‘to be silent, dumb, speechless, deaf, say nothing’.

This has been translated into some other translations as ‘hold your peace’, which is very fitting indeed as we recognise the deliverance our Master has worked for us and so we must guard and hold on to that peace without grumbling!

Our ability to hold our peace and keep silent in the midst of trouble shows that we walk in the understanding of His Word:

Mishlĕ/Proverbs 11:12 “He who lacks heart despises his neighbour, but a man of understanding keeps silence.”

Unless the proper truth of His Torah is coming out of our mouths, we would do best to keep quiet, lest we find that we despise another through a lack of proper understanding!

This has been translated into some other translations as ‘hold your peace’, which is very fitting indeed as we recognise the deliverance our Master has worked for us and so we must guard and hold on to that peace without grumbling!

Our ability to hold our peace and keep silent in the midst of trouble shows that we walk in the understanding of His Word!.

Verse 15 – go forward!

The command to ‘go forward’ in the Hebrew comes from the root word נָסַע ‘nasa’ – Strong’s H5265 meaning, ‘to pull out or up or set out on a journey’.

In other words – pick up your tent pegs were leaving!

We are moving on – going forward – no time to sit around and be afraid, grumbling about the past or fears of the future!

They were to break camp and what we find today is the inability to move forward by many due to varying reasons, be it for fear of the enemy that numbs you or loyalties and possessions that are our own instead of that which relates to the common goal of the body of Messiah..

They were required to show their faith by their works – trusting in יהוה must never be confused with laziness and ignorance to His instructions – He will not break camp for us so to speak.

Yes, He will fight for us and deliver us from sin and slavery to our entrenched habits, but we must show that we believe Him by taking the necessary steps and so prove our faith by our works!

Yeshayahu/Isaiah 43:2 “When you pass through the waters, I am with you; and through rivers, they do not overflow you. When you walk through fire, you are not scorched, and a flame does not burn you.”

When you pass through… when you walk through… – we are to be a people walking by faith – emphasis here is on the ‘moving/active faith’!

יהוה was sternly rebuking their grumbling and complaining, telling them to shut up and get a move on – and sometimes we need to hear that more often today, as grumbling and complaining only stops progression!

Rise up and go – for יהוה is with you!!!

Pilipiyim/Philippians 4:13 “I have strength to do all, through Messiah who empowers me.”.

Verse 16-30 – The crossing of the Sea of Reeds

Here stood Yisra’ĕl – with their backs to the wall so to speak and seemingly nowhere to go.

They have just been commanded to get up and go forward and could see the Mitsrian army breathing heavy down on their necks and they are told that the enemy they see today they will not see ever again and now Mosheh is commanded to lift up his rod and stretch it over the sea and divide it so that Yisra’ĕl can pass through the sea on dry ground!

Mosheh had been in the Wilderness – he had been a shepherd for 40 years and knew the terrain, while the rest of Yisra’ĕl had never been outside of Mitsrayim and they had no clue what lay ahead. Mosheh had gone through some extensive on the job training in leadership through his encounters with Pharaoh and now he was to lead Yisra’ĕl out and have them pass through the Sea of Reeds and shepherd them.

At this point, the column of cloud went from before Yisra’ĕl and stood behind them, assuring them protecting from the encroaching enemy from behind!.

Yeshayahu/Isaiah 52:10-13 “יהוה shall lay bare His set-apart arm in the eyes of all the nations. And all the ends of the earth shall see the deliverance of our Elohim. Turn aside! Turn aside! Come out from there, touch not the unclean. Come out of her midst, be clean, you who bear the vessels of יהוה. For you shall not come out in haste, nor go in flight. For יהוה is going before you, and the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl is your rear guard. See, My Servant shall work wisely, He shall be exalted and lifted up and very high.”.

This passage from Yeshayahu/Isaiah, speaks of that which is to come when the whole earth shall see the deliverance of our Elohim and this exodus account is a shadow picture of this as the events that happened at Mitsrayim and by the sea of Reeds is exactly what this passage reveals for us – the Arm of יהוה – that is His outstretched Arm of deliverance – יהושע Messiah – would be seen by all the nations, and how He goes before us and is our rear guard!

We have nothing to be afraid of as He not only goes before us and makes the way but He also has our backs covered!.

יהוה had caused His cloud to bring darkness to the Mitsrians so that they could not see the Yisra’ĕlites and vice versa, but with Yisra’ĕl He gave them light!

Mosheh then stretched out his hand and יהוה caused an east wind to blow all night and divide the waters so that Yisra’ĕl could pass through on dry ground.

The wind would dry out the pathway and it is here, as it were, where the ‘waters broke’, so to speak, and a ‘renewed’ nation passed through the ‘birth canal’, being ‘born again’, so to speak.

This passing through the Sea of Reeds was a picture, or type, of immersion – a washing and cleansing of a seemingly dying people, from the uncleanness of Mitsrayim (world).

They were now set-apart unto יהוה no longer tortured or pursued by the enemy as the enemy had been destroyed as יהוה caused the waters to return and cover the entire army of Pharaoh that came in hot pursuit of Yisra’ĕl!.

Verse 24-25 – confused the enemy!

יהוה disarmed the Mitsrian army by taken their chariot wheels off – their means of attack were cut off and at this point they realised that יהוה was fighting against Mitsrayim – yet it was too late they were in the midst of the Sea on the dry ground and when all Yisra’ĕl had passed through and the enemies were in the Sea, Mosheh stretched out his hand again and the waters came crashing down on the enemy, killing them all..

Passing through the Sea:

When we are immersed in the Name of יהושע Messiah – that is being fully immersed in water, making the bold declaration that יהוה is our Saviour and Deliverer and Redeemer – we too are being born afresh and die to the old and that which has held us captive in the past is dead and we can go forward serving Him faithfully!.

We put aside the flesh to walk in the newness of the Spirit:

Qorintiyim Bět/2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Messiah, he is a renewed creature – the old matters have passed away, see, all matters have become renewed!”.

This passing through the sea of Reeds, was symbolic of a dying to sin – that is a dying to lawlessness for Yoḥanan Aleph/1 John 3:4 tells us clearly that lawlessness is sin.

Lawlessness is living according to the flesh and everyone doing as they see fit whereas one who has died to sin is done with sin and the things of the flesh and lives according to the Spirit – that is the breath of יהוה – His spoken word!

Romiyim/Romans 6:1-4 “What, then, shall we say? Shall we continue in sin, to let favour increase? 2 Let it not be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were immersed into Messiah יהושע were immersed into His death? 4 We were therefore buried with Him through immersion into death, that as Messiah was raised from the dead by the esteem of the Father, so also we should walk in newness of life.”.

Verse 31 – The people feared and believed יהוה and His servant Mosheh!

They had now seen the deliverance of יהוה and as they stood on the other side of the Sea they saw all the Mitsrian army dead on the seashore – can you imagine the sight. They now feared and believed יהוה.

However, this did not last too long for when the next challenge to their faith came they forgot quickly the Mighty Power of יהוה until He once again proved Himself..

We must always be on our guard against this rollercoaster like faith as we too encounter various trials and challenges on our journey.

They believed Mosheh too and this is a very important lesson for us in that there are too many people today who do not.

It was just as important for Yisra’ĕl to trust Mosheh as they trusted יהוה and it is the same today! We cannot say that we believe all that יהוה and then think or say that the Torah (Mosheh) has been done away with – for the Torah (Mosheh) IS what יהוה says!!!!.

The Hebrew word that is translated as ‘and they believed’ is וַיַּאֲמִינוּ vaiya’aminu, which comes from the primitive root verb – אָמַן aman – Strong’s H539 which means, ‘confirm, support, establish, faithful, believe’.

What is worth taking note of, is that a word that is derived from the root אָמַן aman – Strong’s H539, is the Hebrew word for ‘truth’, which is אֱמוּנָה emunah – Strong’s H530 which means, ‘firmness, steadfastness, faithfulness, stability, trust, truthful’.

We serve a faithful and trustworthy Elohim – and in Him we find true stability, as we stand upon the Rock of Truth!

His belief was reckoned to him as righteousness!

Aḇram was a trustworthy and faithful man who guarded the commands of elohim and walked in righteousness, remaining steadfast and firm in the Truth!.

When looking at אֱמוּנָה emunah – Strong’s H530 in the ancient pictographic script we are able to learn the clear characteristic of trustworthiness, as it looks like this:.

.

Aleph – אֱ:

The ancient script has this letter as and is pictured as ‘the head of an ox’, and represents ‘strength’, meaning ‘muscle’ as the ox is the strongest of the livestock animals. This also carries the meaning of ‘yoke’, as an ox is placed in a yoke in order to plough or pull a heavy load in the right direction. This can also picture for us the ‘red heifer’ sacrifice that יהושע Messiah fulfilled!.

Mem – מֶ

The ancient script has this letter as and is pictured as ‘water’, and also carries the meaning of ‘chaos’ (from the storms of the sea) and can also picture that which is mighty or massive as well as the unknown. We are also able to understand this letter as representing the nations, for the nations are often likened to the seas in Scripture. This also carries for us the picture of washing, as we understand the function of water being that which cleanses us and sustains us, showing us how we are washed and sustained by the Living Waters of the Word!.

Waw/Vav – וּ:

The ancient script has this letter pictured as , which is a ‘peg or tent peg’, which was used for securing or tying the tent or other items. The possibility of it having a Y-shape is to show that it prevents the rope from slipping off. The root meaning of this letter is ‘to add, secure or hook’..

Nun – נָ:

The ancient pictographic script has this letter pictured as , which pictures a ‘sprouting seed’ and gives the idea of continuation or an offspring or an heir, speaking of that which sprouts forth to be the heir of the promise of continuation, and represents one’s life expectancy..

Hey – ה:

The ancient script has this letter pictured as , which is a ‘man standing with his arms raised out’. This word can mean “behold, look, breath, sigh and reveal or revelation”; from the idea of revealing a great sight by pointing it out. It also carries for us the meaning of surrender, as we lift up our hands and submit to יהוה as we lift our hands in praise, declaring His authority under which we humbly submit!

In the understanding of this word אֱמוּנָה emunah – Strong’s H530, representing for us ‘trustworthiness’, we can clearly see from these pictures the following:.

THE COMPLETE AND SURE STRENGTH OF OUR MASTER WHO WASHES US AND SECURES FOR US THE PROMISE OF EVERLASTING LIFE, AS WE SUBMIT TO HIM AND PRAISE HIM WITH OUR ALL. .

Our ability and strength to remain trustworthy servants, comes as we allow The Word of our Master to wash us and secure us in Him, as we walk in total submission to Him, with hands lifted high in continual praise of our Master and Elohim.

Our belief in our Master and Elohim must be seen in our works of righteousness as we guard to do all He has commanded us to!

The Hebrew word for ‘righteousness’ is צְדָקָה tseḏaqah – Strong’s H6666 meaning, ‘righteousness, righteous acts, merits, righteous deeds’ and one of my favourite verses declares the definition of this word so plainly:

Deḇarim/Deuteronomy 6:25 “And it is righteousness for us when we guard to do all this command before יהוה our Elohim, as He has commanded us.”

Mishlĕ/Proverbs 12:28 “In the way of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death.”.

Dynamic belief always obeys Elohim and proves itself true in the daily walk of life through confident works of righteousness. Today we find many people who fit Sha’ul’s descriptions, in his letter to Titos:

Titos/Titus 1:16 “They profess to know Elohim, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unfit for any good work.”

Titos/Titus 3:8 “Trustworthy is the word, and in this regard I wish you to strongly affirm, that those who have believed in Elohim should keep their minds on maintaining good works. This is good and profitable to men.”

Do your works deny Elohim or do they confirm your belief in Him?.

Another Hebrew word that is derived from the primitive root word אָמַן aman – Strong’s H539 is the adverb אָמֵן aměn- Strong’s H543 means, ‘truly, verily, truth, so be it’.

Aměn is also often translated as ‘trust’; and so, we see that to trust or believe implies an action and not just a thought; but rather in one’s acknowledgment of what has been written in the Word, the confirmation of one’s ‘aměn’ implies that there will be an active trust and belief in doing what the Word says!.

So many people today use the term ‘aměn’ very loosely and yet they do not understand what this implies and signifies!.

In the ancient script the Hebrew word אָמֵן aměn – Strong’s H543 looks like:.

.

Aleph – אָ:

The ancient pictographic script has this letter pictured as , which is ‘the head of an ox’, and represents ‘strength’, meaning ‘muscle’ as the ox is the strongest of the livestock animals. This also carries the meaning of ‘yoke’, as an ox is placed in a yoke in order to plough or pull a heavy load in the right direction. This can also picture for us the ‘red heifer’ sacrifice that יהושע Messiah fulfilled!.

Mem – מֵ:

The ancient pictographic script has this letter pictured as , which is ‘water’, and also carries the meaning of ‘chaos’ (from the storms of the sea) and can also picture that which is mighty or massive as well as the unknown. We are also able to understand this letter as representing the nations, for the nations are often likened to the seas in Scripture. This also pictures that which washes and we know that The Word is likened to the Living Waters that cleanse, as represented in the water that was used in the Tabernacle, which the priests would, from the water in the bronze laver, wash their hands and feet with..

Nun – ן:

The ancient pictographic script has this letter pictured as , which pictures a ‘sprouting seed’ and gives the idea of continuation or an offspring or an heir, speaking of that which sprouts forth will be the heir of the promise of continuation, and represents one’s life expectancy..

There are a few powerful pictures that we are able to interpret from the pictographic construction of this word אָמֵן aměn, especially as we acknowledge and confirm our acceptance of the Word of our Master and Elohim, and that He is the Aměn.  .

MESSIAH, OUR HEAD AND OUR STRENGTH, HAS COME AND GIVEN US HIS EASY YOKE, AS HE PASSED THROUGH THE WATERS IN ORDER TO WASH US AND REDEEM US FROM THE CHAOS OF SIN, AS HE IS THE SEED OF THE PROMISE THAT WAS BORN OF A MAIDEN (VIRGIN), AND IN OUR IMMERSION IN HIM WE ARE GIVEN LIFE AND THE ASSURANCE OF OUR EXPECTATION OF EVERLASTING LIFE, AS CO-HEIRS OF THE PROMISE!

While many are saying aměn today, in their ‘assumed innocence’, they are simply ‘puffed up’ in a falsely twisted knowledge as they have whored away from the Truth and are wasting away in their sin/lawlessness!

Those who are indeed a faithful remnant who endure in their confession of faith in the Master, as seen in their belief with works of obedience, shall indeed be found to have the seed of His Word firmly planted in – the seed that will cause the faithful to inherit everlasting life, when the Master comes in the day of His visitation! True witnesses of the True Witness!.

CHAPTER 15

The Song of Mosheh – verse 1-14

This is the first recorded account that we see in Scripture, of an assembly, or body of believers, singing a song of praise to יהוה, and the first account we see, of a song being used to praise Him.

I do believe that songs were sung unto Him in praise before this – but here, we see Mosheh and the children of Yisra’ĕl singing together – this was the day of deliverance – a sure reason to sing!!!.

A wonderful prophetic shadow picture of what will once again be sung by a delivered and redeemed people:

Yeshayahu/Isaiah 12: “And in that day you shall say, “I thank You יהוה, though You were enraged with me, Your displeasure has turned back, and You have comforted me. 2 “See, Ěl is my deliverance, I trust and am not afraid. For Yah, יהוה, is my strength and my song; and He has become my deliverance.” 3 And you shall draw water with joy from the fountains of deliverance. 4 And in that day you shall say, “Praise יהוה, call upon His Name; make known His deeds among the peoples, make mention that His Name is exalted. 5 “Sing to יהוה, For He has done excellently; this is known in all the earth. 6 “Cry aloud and shout, O inhabitant of Tsiyon, for great is the Set-apart One of Yisra’ĕl in your midst!”

“In that day” – when our deliverance is complete at His Second Coming!

Those who fear יהוה and walk in obedience to His Torah will sing the Song of Mosheh!.

In essence, we have been shown the end from the beginning!

Ḥazon/Revelation 15:1-4 “And I saw another sign in the heaven, great and marvellous: seven messengers having the seven last plagues, for the wrath of Elohim was ended in them. 2 And I saw like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those overcoming the beast and his image and his mark and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of Elohim. 3 And they sing the song of Mosheh the servant of Elohim, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvellous are Your works, יהוה Ěl Shaddai! Righteous and true are Your ways, O Sovereign of the set-apart ones! 4 “Who shall not fear You, O יהוה, and esteem Your Name? Because You alone are kind. Because all nations shall come and worship before You, for Your righteousnesses have been made manifest.”

According to this – it will be those who overcome the beast and his image and his mark and the number of his name that will sing this song after the last plague – sung by a people who had returned to the True way of יהוה by keeping the very commands given through Mosheh as Mount Sinai!.

The Hebrew root that is translated as ‘sang/sing’ is שִׁיר shiyr – Strong’s H7891 and simply means ‘sing’, but also carries the meaning, ‘to use one’s voice as an instrument to sing musical tones, rhythms, and often words’.

Using our voice to sing to יהוה is an attribute of giving thanks or rather, that which should flow from giving thanks..

So many people are too shy to sing, yet we should not worry what others may think of our voice, as we sing to the One who causes us to be – He loves to hear you sing!

Singing to יהוה is a great implement or tool, not only for great celebration of His great loving-commitment, but as we know from Scripture, is a great tool for war!!!

This word שִׁיר shiyr – Strong’s H7891 is identical to the primitive root word שׁוּר shur – Strong’s H7788 meaning, ‘to travel, journey, carriers’.

One lexicon describes this word as ‘strolling singer’, and figuratively shows us how Dawiḏ would sing wherever he went!

Praise could not be withheld from his lips, no matter who looked on!

How about you?.

Verse 2 – יהוה is my strength and song!

The Hebrew word that is used here for ‘my strength’ is עֻזִּי uzziy, which comes from the word עֹז oz – Strong’s H5797 which means, ‘strength, might, fortress, power, stronghold’, and this comes from the root verb עָזַז azaz – Strong’s H5810 which means, ‘to be strong, be brazen, prevail, display boldness’..

Where do you find your strength?

In Tehillah/Psalm 28 Dawiḏ declares the following:

Tehillah/Psalm 28:7-8 “יהוה is my strength, and my shield; My heart has trusted in Him, and I have been helped; therefore my heart exults, and with my song I thank Him. 8 יהוה is the strength of His people, and He is the stronghold of deliverance of His anointed.”

Dawiḏ was bold and confident, yet not arrogant!

He could be because he knew who his Rock was and he guarded righteousness! He could bless יהוה at all times because he knew that יהוה was his strength and his shield!

Is יהוה your strength and your shield or do you find yourself seeking strength from other sources or even from within yourself and find yourself hiding behind excuses instead of facing battles and letting יהוה be your shield by putting complete faith and trust in Him and His Word?.

For more on these words of Dawiḏ please see the notes of a message called, “יהוה IS MY STRENGTH AND MY SHIELD!” which you can find under the ‘sermons 2016/2017’ menu on our site (https://atfotc.com) or by clicking on the following link:

https://atfotc.com/is-my-strength-and-my-shield-psalm-28/.

Is יהוה your strength or not?

Blessed are those whose strength is in יהוה!

When יהוה is your strength and you recognise and acknowledge the source of your strength being יהוה then His highways shall be in your hearts and you shall keep a firm stand on walking in complete set-apartness and be on guard against turning away from it!.

When considering the clear Truth that יהוה is our refuge and strength, we must take note or carefully consider that it is when facing distress and troublesome times that we realise our need for יהוה to be our refuge and strength!.

The words we see being used here, in verse 2, are also found in:

Tehillah/Psalm 118:14 “Yah is my strength and song, and He has become my deliverance.”

The Hebrew word that is translated as ‘and my song’ is וְזִמְרָת – vezimrath which comes from the root word זִמְרָת zimrath – Strong’s H2176 which is a noun that means, ‘song, song of praise, melody’ and this comes from the primitive root verb זָמַר zamar – Strong’s H2167 which means, ‘to make music (in praise of Elohim), sing praises’.

This word carries with it the idea of ‘striking with the fingers’, and more properly meaning ‘to touch the strings or parts of a musical instrument’.

This praise goes further than just the voice but carries the clear picture of making music or singing with the aid of instruments!.

The declaration of יהוה being our strength and song being done here clearly pictures for us a joyous celebration of the deliverance that יהוה had brought for Yisra’ĕl and when one truly understands His work of deliverance/salvation that He has brought to us through His own blood then our natural ability to sing and praise His Name should flow with abundance!.

The Hebrew word that is translated as ‘and I praise Him’ is וְאַנְוֵהוּ – veanvehu which comes from the root word נָוָה navah – Strong’s H5115 which means, ‘to stay at home, dwell or abide’, as well as, ‘to beautify, praise, adorn’.

It is written in the ‘hiphil’ verb tense which is the ‘causative’ tense which can render the meaning of, ‘to beautify, adorn, to dwell’.

The declaration here is clear in declaring that His deliverance causes us to beautify and adorn Him with praise. Some translations render this as ‘I will prepare Him a habitation’.

The concept of this word highlights how the deliverance of our elohim causes us to rejoice at making our dwelling in Him and ‘staying at home’ so to speak..

A noun that is derived from this root verb is נָוֶה naveh – Strong’s H5116 which means, ‘habitation, dwelling, pasture, meadow, who remains, abode of shepherd or flocks’, which is used in the following account in Ḥaḇaqquq which describes the actions of a proud fool, translated as ‘stay at home’:

Ḥaḇaqquq/Habakkuk 2:4-5 “See, he whose being is not upright in him is puffed up. But the righteous one lives by his steadfastness. 5 “And also, because wine betrays him, a man is proud, and he does not stay at home. Because he enlarges his appetite as the grave, and he is like death, and is not satisfied, and gathers to himself all nations and heaps up for himself all peoples.”

Because the wrong ‘do not stay at home’ they are always lurking about and devising schemes to ravage those who stay at home and are at rest!

This concept of ‘staying at home’ and ‘bringing beautifying praise’ is a clear picture of uprightness that the wise exhibit, while the proud arrogant fool does not as they do not stay at home but seek whatever they can find to satisfy their lustful appetites!.

Verse 3 – יהוה is a man of battle – יהוה is His Name!!!

They confessed that which was true and that which Mosheh had said to the people – יהוה would fight for them – and He did! The enemy has been defeated!

Tehillah/Psalm 24:8 “Who is this Sovereign of esteem? יהוה strong and mighty, יהוה mighty in battle.”

This is the victory declaration we continue to sing today and we must never forget it!!!

יהוה is not only our Commander and Chief who fights for us, He is also the one under whom we march and fight the good fight of belief.

The question you must ask yourself, is whether or not you are staying in the Master and have counted the cost of following Him and are serving as a faithful soldier in His army, having separated yourself unto Him!.

The Hebrew word for ‘battle’ is מִלְחָמָה milḥamah – Strong’s H4421 meaning, ‘battle, war, warfare, military’ comes from the word לָחַם laḥam – Strong’s H3898 which means, ‘to fight, do battle, conquer’ and can also carry the meaning, ‘consume, to use as food, eat’, and it is from this root word that we get the word לֶחֶם leḥem – Strong’s H3899 which means, ‘bread, food, provision’..

Understanding that the word for fighting or war/battle comes from the same root word which the root word bread comes from, which as we know from Scripture that bread is a symbol or picture of community, then it helps us further understand how when we stand up and fight against ‘self’ and the lusts of the flesh that wage war in our lives; for then we are, in fact, feeding the community with growth, as we conquer that which does not belong, in order to enrich the community or body that we are made a part of!

Knowing that יהוה is a man of battle, helps us identify how lovingly committed to His Bride and Body He is, as he fights for us, His body/community, giving us the ability to stand in Him and fight the good fight of the belief!!!.

Verse 6 – the Right Hand of יהוה – this is the mighty working of יהושע Messiah.

Dawiḏ declares this in song too –

Tehillah/Psalm 118:15-16 “The voice of rejoicing and deliverance is in the tents of the righteous; the right hand of יהוה is doing mightily. 16 The right hand of יהוה is exalted; the right hand of יהוה acts mightily.”

Can you have the voice of rejoicing and deliverance in your tent, as His Mighty Right Hand has done mightily, delivering you form sin and death?

Then let praise abound!!!.

The ‘Right Hand’ of יהוה, is as I have said, the mighty working power of His deliverance – and יהושע Messiah is the ‘right Hand’, that is, the working strength of Elohim!

There is not two people – יהוה is יהושע Messiah – for He saves us by His Own Mighty Right Hand!!!

Dawiḏ understood this, as we can clearly see in the following Tehillim:

Tehillah/Psalm 110:1 “יהוה said to my Master, “Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”

This is a clear reference to יהושע Messiah being the Master of Dawiḏ.

While many want to use this verse to try to show that there are two different people, we find a great and valuable lesson contained here in this Tehillah that explains clearly the metaphoric language of this powerful Psalm in recognising who our Might Elohim, Saviour, Redeemer and high priest is..

In verse 4 we again see a clear reference to Messiah:

Tehillah/Psalm 110:4 “יהוה has sworn and does not relent, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Malkitseḏeq.”

Now before we look at verse 5, let us consider the words from verse 1, in recognising who יהושע Messiah, the Master of the beloved, is:

We are told that יהוה says to Dawiḏ’s Master, ‘sit at My right hand’.

Picture for a moment, this imagery being given here – At יהוה’s right hand is the Master!

If there were ‘two’ people on the throne then it would make sense to see that יהוה would then be at Dawiḏ’s Master’s ‘left’ hand – not so?

Well it would be so if there two people, yet what does verse 5 say:

Tehillah/Psalm 110:5 “יהוה at Your right hand Shall smite sovereigns in the day of His wrath.”

In referring to The High Priest forever in the order of Malkitseḏeq, this Psalm gives the clear direction of speech being pointed toward the Master of Dawiḏ, to which the phrase is rendered – “יהוה at Your right hand” – whose right hand is being referred to here?

The Master’s!!!

Yet, if the Master יהושע Messiah was a separate person and is at יהוה’s right hand, then יהוה should have been at His left hand.

Herein lies a clear reality that יהושע Messiah is the outstretched Arm and Right Hand of יהוה our Elohim, who saves us – for there is no Saviour ‘beside’ Him!!!

Yeshayahu/Isaiah 43:11 “I, I am יהוה, and besides Me there is no Saviour.”

Yeshayahu/Isaiah 45:21 “Declare and bring near, let them even take counsel together. Who has announced this from of old? Who has declared it from that time? Is it not I, יהוה? And there is no mighty one besides Me, a righteous Ěl and a Saviour, there is none besides Me.”

Hoshěa/Hosea 13:4 “But I am יהוה your Elohim since the land of Mitsrayim, and an Elohim besides Me you shall not know, for there is no Saviour besides Me.”

At the witness of the Shomeroni woman who had met the Master at the well, the people said:

Yoḥanan/John 4:42 “And they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard, and we know that this is truly the Messiah, the Saviour of the world.”.

Verse 7 – His wrath consumes!

Herein we see the power of the wrath of Elohim upon His enemies, and a shadow picture of the wrath of Elohim which is coming again. Yoḥanan the Immerser proclaimed of the coming Messiah and said in:

Mattithyahu/Matthew 3:12 “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He shall thoroughly cleanse His threshing-floor, and gather His wheat into the storehouse, but the chaff He shall burn with unquenchable fire.”

When the Master comes again He is coming with a quenching fire, and in his wrath will consume his enemies and those who hate Him. Yet we who are in the Master and stay in the Master, shall rejoice when we see His vengeance:

Tehillah/Psalm 58:10-11 “The righteous rejoices when he has seen the vengeance, he washes his feet in the blood of the wrong, 11 and man says, “Truly, the righteous are rewarded; truly, there is an Elohim judging in the earth.” .

For more on the vengeance and recompense of Elohim that is coming, please see the sermon from our site called, “THE VENGEANCE AND RECOMPENSE IS COMING!” from the following link:

https://atfotc.com/the-vengeance-and-recompense-of-elohim-is-coming-isaiah-35-3-10/.

Verse 8 – With the wind of your nostrils!

The Hebrew word translated as ‘wind’ is רוּחַ ‘ruaḥ’ Strong’s H7307and means ‘breath, wind or spirit’, and some translations render this as ‘blast’, for it renders the understanding of the breath that is blown with force from one’s mouth!

The Hebrew word translated as ‘nostrils’ is אַף aph – Strong’s H639 which means, ‘a nostril, nose, face, anger’, and this word is frequently used as a reference to the anger of both men and Elohim; and anger is often expressed in the appearance of the nostrils that dilate in anger.

This word comes from the root verb אָנַף anaph – Strong’s H599 which means, ‘to be angry, become angry’..

As one understands this language, we are able to see the clear anger of Elohim being breathed out, in order to part the waters for His own people who were being hunted down by the Mitsrians..

It by the mighty ‘breath’ of יהוה that we are delivered from our bondage to enslavement and rescued through the waters that He parts by His Spirit!

Iyoḇ/Job 4:9 “Through the breath of Eloah they perish, and through the Spirit of His nostrils they are consumed.”

יהוה shall consume the lawless one with the spirit of His mouth:

Tas’loniqim Bět/2 Thessalonians 2:8 “And then the lawless one shall be revealed, whom the Master shall consume with the Spirit of His mouth and bring to naught with the manifestation of His coming.” .

Verse 9-10 – The empty threats of the enemy destroyed!

In verse 9 we see the clear threats that the enemy will always typically use, in their attempt at trying to diminish the strength and courage of the set-apart one’s of the Most-High Elohim.

As already discussed in Chapter 14:8, we recognise that while enemy seeks to pursue the righteous in order to diminish their strength and courage, we need not fear their threats as we pursue righteousness!

Pursue, overtake, divide and destroy – this is what the enemy seeks to do to the called-out children of light – yet we see the sure power of Elohim, who is on our side as expressed in this song of deliverance..

In verse 10 we see that despite the hard-pursuing tactics of the enemy, יהוה simply destroys them with the breath of His mouth!

When the Talmidim (disciples) of Messiah were in the boat and being tossed by heavy winds, they were greatly afraid and feared for their lives, and after having woken up the Master who rebuked the winds, they marvelled at His great power over the winds and the sea:

Marqos/Mark 8:26-27 “And He said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little belief?” Then, having risen, He rebuked the winds and the sea. And there was a great calm. 27 And the men marvelled, saying, “What is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”.

We have the full assurance of the Mighty saving power of Elohim that is coming to deliver us who are in Him, and recognise that by His spirit the vain threats of the enemy are destroyed:

Zeḵaryah/Zechariah 4:6 “And he answered and said to me, “This is the word of יהוה to ZerubBaḇel, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ said יהוה of hosts.”.

Verse 11 – Who is like you?

Once again as a great shadow of what is to come, look at:

Ḥazon/Revelation 15: 4 “Who shall not fear You, O יהוה, and esteem Your Name? Because You alone are kind. Because all nations shall come and worship before You, for Your righteousnesses have been made manifest.”.

Who is like You:

Tehillah/Psalm 35:10 “Let all my bones say, “יהוה, who is like You, delivering the poor from one stronger than he, and the poor and the needy from him who robs him?”

Tehillah/Psalm 71:19 “For Your righteousness, O Elohim, is most high, You who have done great deeds. O Elohim, who is like You?”

We are a blessed people to have such a Mighty and Powerful and Awesome Elohim!!!
Deḇarim/Deuteronomy 33:29 “Blessed are you, O Yisra’ĕl! Who is like you, a people saved by יהוה, the shield of your help, and He who is the sword of your excellency! And your enemies are subdued for you, and you tread down their high places.”

There is no other nation who has an Elohim like us!

Tehillah/Psalm 86:8 “There is none like You among the mighty ones, O יהוה; And like Your works there are none.”

Deḇarim/Deuteronomy 4:7-8 “For what great nation is there which has Elohim so near to it, as יהוה our Elohim is to us, whenever we call on Him? 8 “And what great nation is there that has such laws and righteous right-rulings like all this Torah which I set before you this day?”

Yirmeyahu/Jeremiah 10:6 “There is none like You, O יהוה. You are great, and great is Your Name in might.”.

Verse 12 – You stretched out Your Right Hand!!!

Once again, we are able to declare the song of the deliverance of Elohim, by the mighty working of His outstretched Arm and right Hand – יהושע Messiah!!!

By the Mighty Right Hand of Elohim, the enemies that pursue His people are swallowed up in the earth, and here we can see similar language in Ḥazon/Revelation which shows us the threats of the enemy being swallowed up:

Ḥazon/Revelation 12:15-16 “And out of his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river after the woman, to cause her to be swept away by the river. 16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.”.

The Hebrew word translated as ‘stretched’ is the primitive root נָטָה natah – Strong’s H5186 meaning, ‘to stretch out, spread out, extend, incline’.

Yeshayahu/Isaiah 31:3 “And the Mitsrites are men, and not Ěl. And their horses are flesh, and not spirit. And when יהוה stretches out His hand, both he who helps shall stumble, and he who is helped shall fall. And they shall all fall, together.”

Yeḥezqěl/Ezekiel 20:33-34 “As I live,” declares the Master יהוה, “do not I, with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, reign over you? 34 And I shall bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the lands where you are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out.”

Melaḵim Bět/2 Kings 17:36 “but יהוה, who brought you up from the land of Mitsrayim with great power and with an outstretched arm, Him you shall fear, and to Him you shall bow yourselves, and to Him you shall slaughter.”.

Verse 13 – It is His kindness (Loving-commitment) that leads us back to Him and we are to stay in His kindness!

Romiyim/Romans 2:4 “Or do you despise the riches of His kindness, and tolerance, and patience, not knowing that the kindness of Elohim leads you to repentance?”

Romiyim/Romans 11:22 “See then the kindness and sharpness of Elohim: on those who fell sharpness, but toward you kindness, if you continue in His kindness, otherwise you also shall be cut off.”

The word used, in the Hebrew, for ‘loving-commitment’ or also translated as ‘mercy’ or ‘kindness’, is the root word חֶסֶד ḥeseḏ – Strong’s H2617 and carries the meaning of ‘goodness, kindness, deeds of devotion, faithfulness’..

The common term ‘grace’ which is often interpreted as meaning ‘unmerited favour’, is often understood in the Hebrew as the word חֶסֶד ḥeseḏ and appears 248 times in the Tanak (OT) – 5 times more than the Greek word translated as ‘grace’ in the Renewed Covenant (N.T.)!!!

He remains steadfast and committed in his love for us and He does that as he remains committed to His Covenant with us.

It is His deepened total commitment to His Covenant that causes us to turn back to Him for He never abandons His Covenant!!!.

Therefore, we are to be a people who stay in His Covenant Love by walking according to it!

What we find in Scripture, is that חֶסֶד ḥeseḏ is used only where there is a prior relationship bond, be it through family, marriage or kinship, and it is used in regards to a bond or relationship that produces in the bond itself a requirement or an obligation for action, where both parties share חֶסֶד ḥeseḏ and can expect from each other and even demand in a sense reciprocal responsibilities, and so חֶסֶד ḥeseḏ is not a free gift, as it is based on a covenant relationship that is given to us as a gift!

We therefore have a clear responsibility to walk in our Master and Redeemer and ensure that we forsake not loving-commitment!

Mishlĕ/Proverbs 3:3 “Let not loving-commitment and truth forsake you – bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart”

Two very powerful words that are often neglected to be carefully considered by so many wanna-be believers, who think that they can do whatever they want and still claim that they love Elohim..

These two words are ‘loving-commitment’ and ‘truth’.

The importance of חֶסֶד ḥeseḏ is vital for us to understand; as we see that those who hear, guard and do the commands of Elohim grow in wisdom and understand the loving-commitment of יהוה:

Tehillah/Psalm 107:43 “Who is wise? Then let him observe these matters! Let them understand the loving-commitment of יהוה.”

Tehillah/Psalm 36:7-10 “How precious is Your loving-commitment, O Elohim! And the sons of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. 8 They are filled from the fatness of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures. 9 For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light. 10 Draw out Your loving-commitment to those who know You, and Your righteousness to the upright in heart.”.

In the ancient pictographic form, the Hebrew word for ‘loving-commitment’ – חֶסֶד ḤESEḎ – Strong’s H2617 looks like this:

.

Ḥet – חַ

The ancient script has this letter as which is a ‘tent wall’, and carries a meaning of ‘separation’, as a tent wall separates two halves of the tent; or it can also reflect the outside walls that separate the people inside from that which is outside and so can also symbolise protection and security to those inside, while picturing a cutting off of those who are outside. Hence this letter can mean ‘established, secure’ as well as ‘cut off, separated from’.

As a tent wall we are also able to recognise the picture of stones being built up to make a complete wall, and represents a ‘boundary’, or better understood as our ‘boundaries’ in recognising the need to walk within the boundaries of the Torah and not step outside of that which has been prescribed for us!.

Samek – סָ:

The ancient script has this letter pictured as , which is a thorn and has the meanings of ‘pierce and sharp’ and can also carry the meaning of ‘a shield’, as thorn bushes were used by shepherds to build a wall to enclose their flock in the night against the attack of predators. Another meaning would be ‘to grab hold of’ as a thorn is a seed that clings to hair and clothing.

The Word of Elohim is sharper than a doubled edged sword and when we find that we do not grab hold of His word and allow His Word to be our shield of faith, we may find ourselves being pierced through with sin and compromise!

Our praise we have for our Master is that in Him we are upheld forever, for He is the shield of our Help, as He Himself took the crown of thorns upon His head, bearing our sin and shame that we may be found to be shielded in Him! It can also give a meaning of ‘turning’, for it is the thorn that turns us away from danger and to that which is secure..

Dalet – דֶּ

The ancient script has this letter as and is pictured as a ‘tent door’. It can also have the meaning of a back and forth movement as one goes back and forth through a tent door and so speaks of an access point. It can also carry the meaning of ‘dangle’ or hanging as the tent door would hang from the roof pole of the tent. It speaks a great deal in terms of understanding the door of the tent of appointment as the only means of access..

When understanding חֶסֶד ḤESEḎ in these ancient pictographic letters we are able to clearly see that the boundaries for the way in which we are to live have been established and the entrance to walking in חֶסֶד ḤESEḎ (loving-commitment) is by our coming to the Door – that is our Master and Saviour – יהושע Messiah!.

WE, AS LIVING STONES, ARE TO GRAB HOLD OF,

AND CLING TO, THE DOOR!.

The Hebrew word that is translated as ‘redeemed’ comes from the root word גָּאַל ga’al – Strong’s H1350 meaning, ‘to redeem, act as kinsman, avenge, buy back, claim, redeemer, avenger of blood, rescue’.

This word is also used to refer to our Redeemer in the form גֹּאֲלִי ga’ali which means, ‘my Redeemer’ as in:

Iyoḇ/Job 19:25 “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and as the Last shall rise over the dust”.

In His Loving-Commitment יהוה ‘led’ those He had redeemed, and in His strength, He guided them to His set-apart dwelling. ‘Led’ and ‘guided’ – this is the assurance we, the Redeemed, have in Him.

The Hebrew word translated as ‘led’ is נָחָה naḥah – Strong’s H5148 which means, ‘to lead, guide, bring forth, govern’, which we already mentioned in Chapter 13 where he promised to lead them, and now here in this song of Mosheh, we are able to see the promise being made sure and the redeemed shall sing of the fulfilment of the sure promises of Elohim!.

We are told here, in verse 13, that יהוה ‘guided’ them to His Set-Apart Dwelling, and the Hebrew root word used for ‘guided’ is נָהַל nahal – Strong’s H5095 which means, ‘to lead or guide to a watering place, bring to a place of rest, refresh, fed, guided’.

Diḇre haYamim Bět/2 Chronicles 32:22 “Thus יהוה saved Ḥizqiyahu and the inhabitants of Yerushalayim from the hand of Sanḥĕriḇ the sovereign of Ashshur, and from the hand of all others, and guided them on every side.”

In a time when Yisra’ĕl were under huge threat from the Ashshurians.

יהוה saved Ḥizqiyahu and the rest who were in Yerushalayim, and while the enemy tried to cut off their life supply and source of water, we recognise the power of the complete provision and protection of יהוה who ‘guided’ them on every side as He refreshed them and strengthened them..

We recognise the power of His Living Word that refreshes us and strengthens us, and how each week we are able to be guided in His Word to come and enter in His rest on His Shabbat and drink of the Living Waters of His Word!

We see this word for ‘guided’ – נָהַל nahal – Strong’s H5095 also being used in:

Tehillah/Psalm 23:2 “He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters.”

Tehillah/Psalm 31:3 “For You are my rock and my stronghold; for Your Name’s sake lead me and guide me.”

Yeshayahu/Isaiah 40:11 “He feeds His flock like a shepherd, He gathers the lambs with His arm, and carries them in His bosom, gently leading those who are with young.”

Yeshayahu/Isaiah 49:10 “They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither heat or sun strike them, for He who has compassion on them shall lead them, even by fountains of water guide them.”.

Verse 14-16 – the nations tremble and fear!

As a called out and set-apart nation, יהוה puts the dread and fear of us on the people, and when they hear the report of His set-apart people they shall tremble!

Deḇarim/Deuteronomy 2:25 “This day I begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the peoples under all the heavens, who, when they hear the report of you, shall tremble and shake because of you.”

The word of יהוה is living and active and when in the day we begin to truly ‘arise and contend’ for the belief, He will cause the fear of us to be upon our enemies and when we must declare the Truth we must not be afraid of man but diligently stand our ground, armed in the Torah..

It is when we begin to ‘arm ourselves’ with the Truth’ and stand firm, without any compromise, that the enemy will tremble and shake – for he knows his days are near – yet we need not fear him but rather ‘endure’ as set-apart ones!

Every time I read this verse, I am strengthened and reminded that I have nothing to fear from the enemy, as long as I am rooted and grounded in love – that is: to be in true and total obedience, guarding to do all He commands.

The report will go out as we shine the Light of his Truth!.

The Hebrew word for ‘tremble’ is רָגַז ragaz – Strong’s H7264 which means, ‘to be agitated, quiver, quake, be excited, perturbed, come trembling’.

Tehillah/Psalm 99:1 “יהוה shall reign; Peoples tremble! He is enthroned on the keruḇim; the earth shakes!”

At the true report of the coming Day of יהוה, we too should tremble and make sure we are in Him and stay in Him:

Yo’ěl/Joel 2:1 “Blow a ram’s horn in Tsiyon, and sound an alarm in My set-apart mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the earth tremble, for the day of יהוה is coming, for it is near”.

In verse 16 we see the term ‘pass over’ used twice, and we recognise that this carries a significant picture for us in seeing that before Yisra’ĕl could be settled as a nation in the land promised to them, they too would ‘pass over’ both the Sea of Reeds as well as the Yardĕn, which would only be made possible by the breath of יהוה, who causes His redeemed to pass over and enter into His provision by the Blood of Messiah, our Passover Lamb!.

So, while we certainly have been redeemed by the Blood of Messiah, and have come out of the systems of the world, and are now sojourning in our Wilderness Journey, there still remains an entering into the rest of Elohim – that is – there still remains for us another ‘passing over’ point, so to speak, as we recognise our need to stay in Him and obey His commands without compromise, so that we, who have been bought by His Blood, can ‘pass over’ and enter into His reign, when He comes for us again!.

Verse 18

Such a powerful verse – and one that we as a redeemed and bought people can proclaim with great boldness –

יהוה reigns forever and ever!!!

His reign shall never cease, and this is something that many people fail to acknowledge, as they disregard His Torah by casting it aside as complete and done away with.

This can never be so, as His reign is forever, and His Torah teaches us how we are to live according to His everlasting reign!.

Tehillah/Psalm 10:16 “יהוה is Sovereign forever and ever; the gentiles shall perish from His land.”

Tehillah/Psalm 29:10 “יהוה sat enthroned at the Flood, and יהוה sits as Sovereign forever.”

Dani’ěl/Daniel 4:3 “How great are His signs, and how mighty His wonders! His reign is an everlasting reign, and His rulership is from generation to generation.”

Dani’ěl/Daniel 7:27 “And the reign, and the rulership, and the greatness of the reigns under all the heavens, shall be given to the people, the set-apart ones of the Most–High. His reign is an everlasting reign, and all rulerships shall serve and obey Him.”

In teaching us how we ought to pray, Yahushua tells us in:

Mattithyahu/Matthew 6:13 “And do not lead us into trial, but deliver us from the wicked one – because Yours is the reign and the power and the esteem, forever. Aměn.”

Knowing that the reign of our Elohim is forever gives us great strength to endure and confidence is seeking the guidance and leading of our Master, as we ask Him to keep us from wickedness and temptations, in order that we can enter into his reign with joy!

Ḥazon/Revelation 11:15 “And the seventh messenger sounded, and there came to be loud voices in the heaven, saying, “The reign of this world has become the reign of our Master, and of His Messiah, and He shall reign forever and ever!”.

Verse 19

Pharaoh, his men and horses drowned in the sea, while Yisra’ĕl walked on dry ground!

Iḇ’rim/Hebrews 11:29 “By belief, they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, and when the Mitsrites tried it, they were drowned.”

Tehillah/Psalm 66:5-7 “Come and see the works of Elohim, awesome acts toward the sons of men. 6 He has turned the sea into dry land, they went through the river on foot. There we rejoiced in Him, 7 who rules by His power forever; His eyes keeping watch on the gentiles; let the rebellious not exalt themselves. Selah.”.

Verse 20-21

Here Miryam is called the prophetess and the sister of Aharon!

She was also the sister of Mosheh, and here in this reference to her as prophetess we are able to see that she is described as one who not only speaks of what is to come, but also imposes upon the people the words of Mosheh in a particular situation of circumstance, for here she was echoing the words of Mosheh!

Can you imagine the sound of this song being sung, at this point, as all the women went out with Miryam with timbrels in their hands and began to make music – this sound in itself would have certainly sent fear to those who would have heard from afar.

Miryam repeats Mosheh’s command to sing and is written in the ‘imperative plural’ which renders this responsibility for all to sing together!

The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea! Notice here that the horse is mentioned before the rider, as the horse in Scripture is often likened to that which represents strength, and the relying on one’s natural strength and power instead of upon יהוה.

Tehillah/Psalm 20:7 “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we remember the Name of יהוה our Elohim.”

Hoshěa/Hosea 14:3 “Ashshur does not save us. We do not ride on horses, nor ever again do we say to the work of our hands, ‘Our mighty ones.’ For the fatherless finds compassion in You.”

Our victory song is certainly in praise and esteem of יהוה our Elohim who has caused us to overcome the flesh and cause us to trust not in ourselves, but rather put our whole trust in Him..

Verse 22-27 – Waters ‘Bitter’ and ‘Sweet

Let us look at the two stops found here: Marah and Ělim:

Stop 4 – Marah  

The word – מָרָה Marah – Strong’s H4785 means, “bitter”– after the victory at the Sea of Reeds, they went on a 3-day journey and came to Marah where they complained as they had no water as the water at Marah was bitter and so the people grumbled and rebelled against Mosheh.

Marah is a lesson for us in rebellion against the Word of Elohim and trust in His provision. Marah still exists today.

There is a village there. The water is still bitter.

But, guess what?

The bitter water is not harmful. In fact, it has health benefits in that it kills parasites and bad bacteria in the digestive system, while not harming the good bacteria.

Could it be that יהוה wanted to cleanse their bodies internally form the effects of Mitsrayim?

How sad it is when we think we know best and get bitter when things do not go the way we expect it to..

We must learn from this, the following: that יהוה always knows what is best and He always seeks out that which is good for us, even when we may not understand it!

Let us realise the effect of bitterness that will cause us to say wrong things! We must also realise that just as the tree made the waters sweet, so too do we see a shadow of how with Messiah the Torah is made sweet to taste.

The Living Torah makes that which He has given us to drink good for us and sweet to our soul, even though it may seem bitter.

Bitterness is also the sad result of unforgiveness and יהוה hates those who sow discord among the brothers; and rebellion in any regard sours the freshness of the Living Waters..

We are told in Tehillah/Psalm 95 not to harden our hearts as they did here and Marah.

The spirit of rebellion is opposite of the spirit of unity. It is in the spirit of rebellion that the end time beast will rear its ugly head.

In Ḥazon/Revelation 13:5-6 we see how the beast blasphemed against Elohim, His Name and His tent and leads the world astray to take the mark of rebellion in worshipping the beast and his image:

Ḥazon/Revelation 13:5-6 “And he was given a mouth speaking great matters and blasphemies, and he was given authority to do so forty-two months. 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against Elohim, to blaspheme His Name, and His Tent, and those dwelling in the heaven.”

When one gets bitter the natural reaction that follows is slander and rebellion and blasphemies and we are to guard our mouths, not allowing any form of bitterness to come forth and bear rotten fruit!

Yeshayahu/Isaiah 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”

Ya’aqoḇ/James 4:14 “But if you have bitter jealousy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast against and lie against the truth.”.

Stop 5 – Ělim  

The Hebrew word אֵילִם Ělim – Strong’s H362 means “palms”.

It can also mean ‘righteous men’ or strength as in ‘rams’.

This was where there were 12 fountains and 70 palm trees – 12 representing the 12 tribes and 70 representing the number of the nations on the earth at that time.

They had just been bitter and instructed to diligently obey the voice of יהוה and in doing so after having water from the Rock He leads them to this oasis or place of refreshing in order to strengthen them.

I like to think of this as arriving at ‘Palm Springs’ if you will!

We can learn from this that even though we too have found ourselves perhaps at times just as bitter as they were in the Wilderness, when we come to the Rock of our Salvation and drink from the Living Water, He will lead us beside still waters and strengthen our souls, even while we are in the Wilderness!

Ělim can also mean ‘their leader’.

Ḥazon/Revelation 13:7-9 shows how the world will follow their evil leader, while we the people of faith, Yisra’ĕl, follow יהושע the King of Yisra’ĕl!

“And it was given to him to fight with the set-apart ones and to overcome them. And authority was given to him over every tribe and tongue and nation. 8 And all those dwelling on the earth, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the slain Lamb, from the foundation of the world shall worship him. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear.”

It is Yisra’ĕl (12 fountains) that is to reach the 70 (rest of the nations) with Living Water as it is the Living Waters of יהוה that brings healing to the nations!

In Ḥazon/Revelation we see the reference to the tree of life as well as the 12 trees that bore fruit each month:

Ḥazon/Revelation 22:2 “In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”

We also see this reference in:

Yeḥezqěl/Ezekiel 47:12 “And by the bank of the stream, on both sides, grow all kinds of trees used for food, whose leaves do not wither and fruit do not fail. They bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the set-apart place. And their fruit shall be for food, and their leaves for healing.”.

When we see this stop, we must recognise that we, as children of Yisra’ĕl, are to be a refreshing supply of the Living Waters of Messiah to the nations!

When Messiah spoke to the Shomeroni woman at the well He told her that whoever would drink of the water that He gives shall never thirst but the water he gives would become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.

Yoḥanan/John 4:14 “but whoever drinks of the water I give him shall certainly never thirst. And the water that I give him shall become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

We recognise that while we are being refreshed by the living waters of Messiah, we are also being refreshed to refresh others!!!.

Verse 26 – The diseases of Mitsrayim are still in play!

The promise contained in this verse to not have any of the diseases brought upon us is given with an ‘IF’ – ‘IF’ you diligently obey the voice of יהוה!

As mentioned earlier, you cannot say that you obey His voice while neglecting to heed and obey His Torah – for the Torah is His Voice – now written by His Breath upon our hearts and His Torah is in our hearts and in our mouths so that we ‘DO IT’!!.

The Hebrew word that is translated as ‘if’ is אִם im – Strong’s H518, which is a conditional participle or primary conjunction which renders, ‘if, though, either, neither, when, whenever’.

The basic meaning is “if” and this meaning can be seen in most of its occurrences. In the hundreds of passages where the word occurs, several basic types of contexts can be seen.

Firstly, it occurs most often in conditional clauses, for example as in:

Berěshith/Genesis 4:7 “If you do well, is there not acceptance? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should master it.”

Secondly, we also find אִם im being used in oath contexts which, in reality, a larger context is assumed. In the larger, the assumed context is an oath, only rarely stated in full, as in:

Iyoḇ/Job 1:11 “But stretch out Your hand, please, and strike all that he has – if he would not curse You to Your face!”.

The clear conditional clause being given here highlights the clear truth that ‘IF’ we diligently obey the voice of Elohim and do what is right in His eyes then the diseases of Mitsrayim will not be brought upon us!.

When one looks at this verse, it is very sobering to realise that, according to Ḥazon/Revelation 16, the plagues of Mitsrayim will once again come into play upon those who refuse to repent and disobey the voice of יהוה.

It is clear as one sees the parallel between Ḥazon/Revelation 15 & 16, where in 15 we see the song of Mosheh being sung by the overcomers and obedient followers of the voice of יהוה, while the disobedient find themselves plagued by the wrath of יהוה, as we once again see the plagues describing that which was similarly poured out upon Mitsrayim – ‘Wicked sores, Sea of Blood, extreme heat, darkness, unclean spirits as frogs (deception)..

Ḥazon/Revelation 16:15 says that blessed are those staying awake and guarding their garments (of righteousness, which is to guard to do all His commands:

Deḇarim/Deuteronomy 6:25 “And it is righteousness for us when we guard to do all this command before יהוה our Elohim, as He has commanded us.”

May we be found singing aloud the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvellous light and keep our garments pure and set-apart as we walk in righteousness, covered by His blessing, favour and shalom!.

In this phrase, “if you will diligently obey the voice of יהוה …” we see that the root word שָׁמַע ‘shama’ is used twice in a row which translates as ‘diligently obey’.

The Hebrew word שָׁמַע ‘shama’ – Strong’s H8085 does not just carry the meaning ‘to hear’ but rather, ‘to hear with attention and comprehend and discern and give heed to what is being spoken’.

The rebellious and defiled do not have ears to hear and are therefore giving no attention to what has been written in the Word and taking no heed to what is being spoken by the voice of יהוה!

If they did listen attentively as they should they would not be so stupid and foolish, for anyone who is truly listening to what the Spirit is saying in the Word of Elohim will be very careful to guard uprightness and pursue set-apartness, in order to find themselves being hidden in יהוה on the day of His coming wrath!.

The Hebrew word for ‘voice’ is קוֹל qol – Strong’s H6963 which means, ‘sound, voice, noise, thunder, proclamation’, and comes from an unused root meaning, ‘to call aloud’.

What is clear to us is that the VOICE of יהוה has been spoken and leaves the choice up to each individual of whether they will hear it or not – and by hearing, I mean to hear it and respond to it by guarding to do what He commands!.

In the ancient pictographic script, the word קוֹל qol – Strong’s H6963 looks like this:.

.

Quph – ק:

This is the Hebrew letter ‘quph’, which is pictured in the ancient script as – – which is a picture of ‘the sun at the horizon’ and depicts the elements of ‘time’, as it pictures the sun in its rising and setting. It therefore carries the meaning of ‘circle’ or ‘to go around’, representing for us both, appointed cycles or times as well as eternity. It also is understood as the ‘gathering of the light’..

Waw/Vav – וֹ:

This is the Hebrew letter ‘waw’ or ‘vav’ which in the ancient script is pictured as , which is a peg or ‘tent peg’, which was used for securing or tying the tent or other items. The possibility of it having a Y-shape is to show that it prevents the rope from slipping off. The root meaning of this letter is ‘to add, secure or hook’ as well as ‘bind’..

Lamed – לֵ:

The ancient script has this letter as , and is pictured as a ‘shepherd’s staff’, can give the meaning of ‘to or toward’ and can represent that which pushes or pulls a flock in a direction, and can speak of authority or a yoke that is used to lead and guide, as well as the ability to bring back by Authority..

These letters combined can give the understanding of:.

GATHERING TO THE SECURE STAFF

OF THE GOOD ETERNAL SHEPHERD.

When the shepherd called, the sheep came swiftly to him. The staff of the shepherd was his tool of authority. With it he would direct, discipline and protect the flock.

Our Good Shepherd’s voice has gone out, and by His Word that does not return empty, He has secured for us the ability to be brought back under His Authority, by His Own Blood, and we as children of Light hear His voice, submit to His Authority, take His easy yoke and guard His Torah and gather together, as we should on His Sabbaths and Feasts!.

If you do not do this then you clearly have misunderstood or do not know the power of His Voice.

We are told in:

Tehillah/Psalm 29:3-9 “The voice of יהוה is over the waters; the Ěl of esteem thunders; יהוה is over many waters. 4 The voice of יהוה is with power, the voice of יהוה is with greatness. 5 The voice of יהוה is breaking the cedars, יהוה is breaking the cedars of Leḇanon in pieces. 6 And He makes them skip like a calf, Leḇanon and Siryon like a young wild ox. 7 The voice of יהוה cuts through the flames of fire. 8 The voice of יהוה shakes the wilderness; יהוה shakes the Wilderness of Qaḏĕsh. 9 The voice of יהוה makes the deer give birth, and strips the forests bare; and in His Hěḵal everyone says, “Esteem!”.

In quoting the above I simply want you to get a glimpse of what the Word teaches us regarding THE VOICE OF יהוה; and for more on this Tehillah/Psalm 29 please see the sermon notes of that message, which you will find on our site (https://atfotc.com) under the sermons 2014/2015 menu or by clicking on the following link:

https://atfotc.com/the-voice-of-psalm-29/.

The voice of יהוה – is the voice of our Good Shepherd – ‘are you listening – are you following?’

Yoḥanan/John 10:27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”.

CHAPTER 16

Verse 1 – on the 15^th of the 2^nd month.

It had now been 30 days since they had left Mitsrayim and came to the Wilderness of Sin and by now their supplies had dried up and could no longer rely on their own resources and had to put their trust in יהוה:.

Wilderness of Sin

The Hebrew word that is translated here as ‘wilderness’ is מִדְבָּר miḏbâr – Strong’s H4057 which means, ‘wilderness/pasture/uninhabited land’ and the Hebrew word that is translated as ‘Sin’ is סִין sı̂yn – Strong’s H5512 which means, “thorn” or “clay”.

This is where יהוה provided manna for Yisra’ĕl. We know too that in the last days we will also see supernatural provision and we also know that Messiah is the Bread of Life that came down from heaven.

Tehillah/Psalm 37:25 “I have been young, and now I am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, or his seed begging bread.”

Now listen, we do not just sit down and think that everything will fall into our laps – we are to be about being faithful to His Word, working diligently with our all unto Him.

As we obey His Torah AND prepare for the days ahead, יהוה will provide the blessings and the miracles.

As clay is also representative of man and as we know that ‘wilderness’ can also mean ‘mouth’ or ‘place of words’, we can have here the picture of the mouth of man or even better still the ‘clay foundations’ of the doctrines of man that are not safe and sound but vulnerable and break easy under pressure..

We must trust in Elohim for our provision and watch our mouths, as this was the place where they grumbled again about not having food and actually some wanted to go back to Mitsrayim and thought that it was better off being a slave and getting a plate of food than having to rely on provision from יהוה in the Wilderness.

This is the futility of man and his words – our words can be a thorn for us, or rather the words of man that we may be inclined to follow can become a thorn for us and cause us to grumble and complain, when we are to trust in and rely upon Elohim for all and praise His Name..

Verse 2-3 – grumblings

The ‘honeymoon’ was now over -30 days since the departure from Mitsrayim and they had quickly forgotten the great acts of יהוה and doubted Mosheh whom they had previously believed and held with great respect.

Now they grumble against Mosheh and Aharon..

The Hebrew root word that is used here from grumbled or murmured is לוּן lun – Strong’s H3885 which means, ‘to lodge, pass the night or stop over’.

In other words, their grumbling caused them to stop moving forward and found themselves ‘moping about in the dark’ so to speak! They stopped making progress when they started to grumble.

Water and food were the basic needs of the people, especially in the Wilderness and the testing came in a huge way as they were on their way to worship Elohim..

The reality is simple – if you are grumbling and complaining then you are not able to worship.

יהוה had been clearly teaching them that He is their Provider who would never leave them, and here was a test of trust.

His signs and wonders were great signposts of His steadfast love, yet here they are reminiscing of the food they had in Mitsrayim.

In a little over 4 weeks, they had quickly forgotten all the abuse and slavery they had been under in Mitsrayim and were convincing themselves that they would be better off if they had stayed there – crazy I know, but hold on a minute – this is a great lesson for us as we see many times how people falter in their walk of faith when they have to place their trust in יהוה alone and rely not on the ingenuity of man and worldly ways and quickly forget the great things that יהוה has done for them and weirdly desire to be back in the pit of slavery with all its fleshly lusts of false security!!!

When things get a little ‘dark’ for you, so to speak – and I say ‘dark’ for the reason of when things are not going well – what do you do?.

Do you find yourself lodging at this stop of a lonesome pity party where you refuse to look up and see His Goodness and place your trust in Him or do you keep moving forward, pressing on with endurance?

May we never forget that He is always with us and is lovingly-committed to us and He tells us not to worry about what we eat, what we wear or where we would sleep – for the world runs after these things!

This here was a clear test showing just how much ‘world’ or Mitsrayim was still in the Yisra’ĕlites..

The Hebrew word that is translated as ‘meat’, here in verse 3, isבָּשָׂר basar – Strong’s H1320 meaning, ‘flesh, meat, men, body’ and comes from the primitive root בָּשַׂר basar – Strong’s H1319 which means, ‘to bear tiding, to bring good news, messenger of good news’, and as we know that bread is symbolic of community, therefore what we see, in essence, happening here is that they preferred the Mitsrian ‘glad news’ and Mitsrian community (symbolic of the church), even though they knew it was plagued with uncleanness.

There were programmes for their kids to keep them busy and preoccupied and there was possibly more ‘social events’ than what they had now.

Now they were forced to trust in יהוה.

In the last days when the ‘mark of the beast’ forbids true worshippers of יהוה to buy or sell, this battle against the mighty one of Mitsrayim that stays with us after our departure will be heightened to its fullest, so that יהוה may finally be shown to be our All in all, our only source of everything – will we be found to be an overcoming and trusting people in the Living El?.

Verse 4-5 – the bread and the test

Keeping His Shabbat is our test of faithfulness and is our mark of true worship, so that we do not ‘long to be back’ in the world’s ways of doing whatever we please on Shabbat!

יהוה said that He would rain down bread from the heavens and they were to gather a portion every day – and this would be to test them to see if they would obey His Torah or not!

Mishlĕ/Proverbs 30:8 “Remove falsehood and a lying word far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me my portion of bread.”

Give me neither poverty nor riches!

Here the cry of this prayer is that he will not be given poverty nor riches as both can be stumbling blocks to the Truth!

The Hebrew word for ‘poverty’ is רֵאשׁ resh – Strong’s H7389 and is translated as poverty 7 times and is only used in the Book of Mishlĕ/Proverbs.

It comes from the root verb רוּשׁ rush (roosh) – Strong’s H7326 which means, ‘to be in want or poor, destitute, poor man, needy, one who pretends to be poor’.

This word expresses the state of being destitute and in server lack!

We know that those who follow the good Shepherd do not lack at all, as the sheep know His voice!

Therefore, we are able to clearly see is that those who neglect to hear the Words of Elohim shall clearly lack the needed faith to walk upright and in obedience, and in the process close their ears to the rebuke of the Shepherd and refuse to hear words of wisdom but rather lend their ears to the words of folly!.

The Hebrew root word for ‘riches’ is עשֶׁר osher – Strong’s H6239 which means, ‘riches, wealth’, and comes from the root verb עָשַׁר ashar – Strong’s H6238 which means, ‘to be or become rich, made rich, enriched’.

In Mishlĕ/Proverbs 13:8 we are told that the ransom of a man’s life in his riches.

No amount of riches can ransom you, and what these proverbs are saying is clear – it costs you your all!

We know that no man can redeem another at all, and we therefore recognise the clear ransom that Messiah has paid by His own life for our beings! Elohim was manifested in the flesh to pay the ransom price that no man could pay!

Tehillah/Psalm 49:6-9 “Those who are trusting in their riches and who are boasting in their great wealth? 7 A brother does not redeem anyone at all, neither give to Elohim a ransom for him; 8 for the redemption of their lives is costly, and it shall cease forever; 9 that he should still live forever, and not see the Pit.”.

What Messiah has done for us is our riches!!!

Kěpha Aleph/1Peter 1:17-20 “And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, pass the time of your sojourning in fear, 18 knowing that you were redeemed from your futile way of life inherited from your fathers, not with what is corruptible, silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Messiah, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, 20 foreknown, indeed, before the foundation of the world, but manifested in these last times for your sakes”

Embracing the wisdom of Elohim as we should through a proper seeking and getting we are able to see just how rich we are in our Master, as we grow in a proper understanding of His Word that becomes a crown of splendour and a head-dress of comeliness!

While we certainly have the greatest riches anyone can ever have, in Messiah, we recognise that what is being expressed here is that the need to attain wealth and riches in this world is not at the heart of this prayer as the concern is not for wealth but for the Truth of the Word that has greater value..

The Greek word used in the LXX (Septuagint) for ‘riches’ here in Mishlĕ/Proverbs 30:8 is πλοῦτος ploutos – Strong’s G4149 which means, ‘to flow or abound in wealth and riches’, and comes from the root word πλέω pleō – Strong’s G4126 which means, ‘to sail, sailing, passenger’!

This word is used in the Parable of the Sower:

Luqas/Luke 8:14-15 “And that which fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with worries, and riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to perfection. 15 “And that on the good soil are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, retain it, and bear fruit with endurance.”

Bringing fruit to perfection, can only happen when we do not allow the worries, riches and pleasure of life to get in the way of our set-apartness in the Master.

The worries, riches and pleasures of life can cause many to shrink back, as the truth is choked out; and this can only happen when the soil of our hearts is not continually being tilled and kept free from these wicked thorns and weeds of doubt..

I find this picture of riches choking out the seed of the Word an interesting one, for if your dreams and hopes are set on ‘sailing off into the sunset’ with all your worries taken care of, think again.

This mind-set of being so wealthy that you can live the dream life and have no cares or worries is a lie and a fantasy that is not a Scriptural concept for the true set-apart believer and having this mind-set can be very dangerous in choking out the very Truth that ought to sustain you..

The world today, is riddled with the luring attraction of finding wealth and happiness; and movies and media play a big role in shaping many minds into thinking what their dream fantasy must look like – this is dangerous and choking, to say the least. With this word also meaning ‘passenger’, we need to take heed that we are not ‘passengers’ here but rather ‘sojourners’..

The difference between a passenger and a sojourner is that the passenger thinks that they are the ones to be served and are simply seeking to be on a cruise of an assumed success, whereas a sojourner realises that he is a foreigner and stranger, and his need to guard the commands of the reign to which he belongs is vital, as his need to serve as an ambassador of that coming kingdom will cost him everything!.

The Greek word translated as ‘choked’ is συμπνίγω sumpnigō – Strong’s G4846 which means, ‘to choke, pressed against, strangle completely – that is literally to drown and figuratively to crowd’.

Have you ever felt like you are drowning in a sea of doubt and fear, or being crowded out by external pressures that are pressing hard against you?

Well, this is what worries, riches and the pleasures of life will do to you, if you are not careful in keeping the soil of your heart free from such thorns and are not meditating, day and night, on the Truth, and not shining the light with confidence!.

The Greek word that is translated as ‘worries’ is μέριμνα merimna – Strong’s G3308 which means, ‘cares, worries, anxieties’, This Greek word can also render the understanding of, ‘being pulled in different directions’!.

How often do you find yourself in a place where you do not know which way to go, and it feels like you are being pulled all over the place?

That is what will choke out and drown out the life of the Word, due to untilled hearts!

יהושע tells us in the Parable of the sower and the seed, that the worries/cares of this life choke out the word, and this is exactly what happens to the seed sown among thorns, which pictures those who hear the Word, but the worries of life choke it out!

Now, think about this for a moment: choking is not a nice experience!!!.

Worries/anxiety choke out the good deposit of the Truth and when this happens many do not get back to the Word and do what is required to change, but rather seek to have their ears tickled in order to seemingly sooth away the crippling effects of anxiety, yet fail to realise that laziness to do so will weaken them, whereas getting wisdom and growing in the knowledge of Elohim will strengthen one and cause one to stand and be able to breath in the fear of Elohim and be unaffected by chocking thorns!.

The Greek word translated as ‘pleasures’ is ἡδονή hēdonē – Strong’s G2237comes from the word ἥδομαι hēdomai which means, ‘to enjoy oneself, indulge in pleasures’.

It is from this word that we get the English word ‘hedonism’ which, according to Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, is understood as meaning, ‘the doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the sole or chief good in life’..

These three things are a real and present danger that is lurking around each and every one of us, each and every day, just waiting for the opportune time to choke out the Word from our lives.

This will happen when compromise sets in, even in the slightest way!

The way to properly avoid this is to make sure that you are not seeking for riches nor poverty but simply the lawful bread that can sustain us..

Feed me my lawful bread!

The Hebrew word used here for ‘feed me’ in Mishlĕ/Proverbs 30:8 is הַטְרִיפֵנִי hatheriypheniy which comes from the root word טָרַף taraph – Strong’s H2963 and means, ‘to tear, rend, pluck, torn to pieces’, and also carries the meaning of, ‘to provide food’, when written in the ‘hiphil’ verb tense!

Here is a good example in Hebrew of how a root word can be employed in various ways to have varied meanings and when one is only able to look at root words without the verbal construct then a proper understanding can often be lost..

The primary meaning of this root is, ‘to seize a creature with predaciousness, tear the flesh, and consume it’.

It is also used to illustrate the predatory nature of people who continually conquer and destroy others.

The tribes of Binyamin and Gaḏ are likened to a wolf that tears (Berěshith/Genesis 49:27) and a lion that shall tear off the arm (Deḇarim/Deuteronomy 33:20)

This root is also used to describe an animal torn by beasts, which is clearly forbidden to being eaten in the Torah:

Shemoth/Exodus 22:31 “And you are set-apart men to Me, and you do not eat any meat which is torn to pieces in the field, you throw it to the dogs.”.

With the hiphil (causative) tense, describing the provision of food, we are able to gain a great understanding through this parabolic prayer, which teaches us that we do not want to eat that which has been torn to pieces in the filed but rather we desire the proper lawful food of Elohim.

With the word of Elohim being likened to bread in Scripture, as Messiah is the Bread of Life that came down and was the manna in the Wilderness, we are able to understand that any corruption of the Word can be likened to that which has been torn to pieces in the field, with the filed representing the world!.

So many are ‘eating away’ at false teachings that have been torn to pieces through vain and corrupt traditions and commands of man that are taught as teachings while the Torah of Elohim, which is the lawful bread, is being cast aside!.

The Hebrew word used here for ‘lawful’ in Mishlĕ/Proverbs 30:8 is חֹק ḥoq – Strong’s H2706 meaning, ‘something prescribed or owed, boundary, allotment, portion, ordinance, statute’.

This word comes from the primitive root חָקַק ḥaqaq – Strong’s H2710 which means, ‘to cut, inscribe, hack, engrave, decree, carve, sceptre, lawgiver’.

The plural of this word, which is translated as ‘laws’ is חֻקִּים – ḥuqqiym, and in essence we get the clear understanding of a ḥoqqim as being ‘laws cut in stone’, which means that they are set and fixed!

Tehillim/Psalm 119:16 “I delight myself in Your laws; I do not forget Your word.”

A ḥuqqah is often seen as something that must simply be obeyed, even when the full understanding may not be available; and as we look at what has been labelled as a law that may not be fully understood we in fact come to learn that all is made clear and understandable through the life, death and resurrection of Messiah..

The Hebrew word used here for ‘bread’ in Mishlĕ/Proverbs 30:8 is לֶחֶם leḥem – Strong’s H3899, meaning ‘bread, meal, provision, food’.

We also know that bread in Scripture is a picture of a Torah obedient community:

Qorintiyim Aleph/1 Corinthians 10:17 “Because there is one bread, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.”

We also take note that Messiah is the Bread of Life that came down from above in order to provide for us the needed sustenance for life in Him, and therefore we must take note of this clear warning against laziness, as we are to make sure that we are firmly established in Him as we prepare ourselves daily as a Bride that is making Herself ready, by making sure that we eat of our daily lawful bread – that is we must never neglect to read and meditate daily on the Torah of Elohim, lest we become lazy and lack proper wisdom to function as we should in Him!.

So many people are being fed ‘lawlessness’ and are not being properly nourished in the Truth and will find themselves lacking the proper sustenance to endure in set-apartness, while the righteous echo this prayer, each day, by asking Elohim for their lawful bread, which implies a cry for Elohim, the Good Shepherd and Teacher to feed us His Word, teach us His Truth and lead us in the Way which leads to life, by walking in righteousness as we guard to do all He commands us to through His clear Word that is tried and trustworthy!.

Messiah taught us to pray this way when he gave us a pattern and not a recital of how we ought to pray when His taught ones asked Him how they should pray:

Mattithyahu/Matthew 6:9-13 “This, then, is the way you should pray: ‘Our Father who is in the heavens, let Your Name be set-apart, 10 let Your reign come, let Your desire be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 ‘Give us today our daily bread. 12 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 ‘And do not lead us into trial, but deliver us from the wicked one – because Yours is the reign and the power and the esteem, forever. Aměn.’”.

The call for His reign to come and be down here, and asking for daily bread, is the same as asking for our lawful bread and the cry to not be led into trial and that we be delivered from the evil one, which is the similar pattern of asking to have falsehood and lies to be far removed from us.

And the declaration of the reign and power and esteem is יהוה’s, also echoes the reality of not denying Him and seizing His Name, through misrepresentation, which we see being taught to us through this prayer of Mishlĕ/Proverbs 30 in verse 9!

We also recognise that it is His Word – our Lawful Bread – that separates us and washes us, so that we can be properly built up in Him, as His House!.

When we consider this word לֶחֶם leḥem – Strong’s H3899, which means, ‘bread, meal, provision, food’, in the ancient pictographic script, we are able to recognise the true cleansing and separation from wickedness that His Word does, as we submit under the authority of His Word, in order to be built up as His house!.

In the ancient pictographic script, we see the root word לֶחֶם leḥem – Strong’s H3899pictured as follows:

Lamed – לֶ:

The ancient script has this letter as , and is pictured as a ‘shepherd’s staff’, can give the meaning of ‘to or toward’ and can represent that which pushes or pulls a flock in a direction, and can speak of authority or a yoke that is used to lead and guide, as well as the ability to bring back by Authority..

Ḥet – חֶ

The ancient script has this letter as which is a ‘tent wall’, and carries a meaning of ‘separation’, as a tent wall separates two halves of the tent; or it can also reflect the outside walls that separate the people inside from that which is outside and so can also symbolise protection and security to those inside, while picturing a cutting off of those who are outside.

Hence this letter can mean ‘established, secure’ as well as ‘cut off, separated from’..

As a tent wall we are also able to recognise the picture of stones being built up to make a complete wall, and represents a ‘boundary’, or better understood as our ‘boundaries’ in recognising the need to walk within the boundaries of the Torah and not step outside of that which has been prescribed for us!

Mem – ם

The ancient script has this letter as and is pictured as ‘water’, and also carries the meaning of ‘chaos’ (from the storms of the sea) and can also picture that which is mighty or massive as well as the unknown. We are also able to understand this letter as representing the nations, for the nations are often likened to the seas in Scripture..

As we consider these pictographs that render the meaning of bread, provision, we are able to recognise, in terms of our lawful bread that our Master has given us all we need for life and reverence, and that as we submit under the authority of His Word, being led by our Good Shepherd, we are separated and built up in Him, though the washing of His Word!

His Word is our Food that separates and cleanses us as His Bride!.

THE GOOD SHEPHERD BUILDS US UP AND CLEANSES

or

THE AUTHORITY OF THE WORD THAT SEPARATES AND CLEANSES.

When we recognise the value and importance of the daily lawful bread that we are to eat, we see how important it is for us to meditate on His Torah, day and night, so that we can live clean and set-apart lives! Neglecting to do so will cause one to not know who He, The Good Shepherd, is!.

BACK TO SHEMOTH/EXODUS 16

On the 6^th day they were to gather twice as much so that for the Sabbath they would have their bread and not go out on the Sabbath and work!.

What is very interesting here is in the context of our Creator’s appointed times and understanding Creations Week and that 1 day is as a 1000 years and 1000 years is as 1 day – the one thing that Kěpha/Peter tells us that should not be hidden from us – we must understand this or else we cannot fully embrace His redemption plan and full cycle of His Appointed Times..

As we approach the end times before we enter into His Millennial reign of 100 years – the 7^th day, it is very clear that we are in the 6^th day so to speak and understanding this comes with a great responsibility.

We are to ‘gather twice as much’.

We are to be doing more preparation than that of our forefathers – we have a double responsibility now – gathering in a double portion! The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few – are you working at gathering the bread (community)?.

Verse 7-9 – יהוה hears your grumblings!!!

When you find yourself in a place of grumbling and complaining over your circumstances and try to find someone to grumble against – realise this – you are grumbling against יהוה!!!.

Manna and quail:

The manna that had fallen came in the 4^th week after their departure from Mitsrayim. Symbolically this can also point to the 4^th day when the lights were given their appointed duties, so too did Messiah, the Light of the world and the Bread of life come down to earth on the 4^th day – that is in the 4^th Millennium!!!

What is it?

They did not know what the bread was and called it ‘manna’ meaning ‘what is this!

They had just come out of slavery and did not know the True Bread of Life – The Living Word that their fathers never ate. Today we see the same thing happening as many are coming out of Mitsrayim (Christianity) so to speak and are asking the same question – what is it?

They do not know the Torah and find it very strange for their father never ate of it – instead they ate inherited lies of twisted truth, now we are tasting the good sweetness of His Word that we are to gather each and every day and on the 6^th get double!.

Yoḥanan/John 6:31-35 “Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it has been written, ‘He gave them bread out of the heaven to eat.’ ” 32 Therefore יהושע said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, Mosheh did not give you the bread out of the heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread out of the heaven. 33 “For the bread of Elohim is He who comes down out of the heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 So they said to Him, “Master, give us this bread always.” 35 And יהושע said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall not get hungry at all, and he who believes in Me shall not get thirsty at all.” .

Each person that disobeyed the instructions of gathering and keeping found that it turned to maggots – yesterday’s bread is for yesterday!!! Too many people want to live on yesterday’s provision. “Keeping for tomorrow” is an actual worship of the demon called ‘security’ instead of placing our total trust in יהוה.

We cannot go a day without Messiah – in verse 35 we see that Yisra’ĕl ate manna in the wilderness for 40 years, and after the death and resurrection of Messiah, he showed Himself to His taught ones for 40 days – another sign to show them that He was the manna that was with Yisra’ĕl in the wilderness.

The quail was meat that would prove later to be a snare..

Verse 16 – responsibility of every man

Every man must take for those in his tent!

The head of each home in not only responsible as the ‘breadwinner’ so to speak but he is also the head teacher of his home, responsible for that which his household is learning..

Today too many fathers are absent and have left this duty of gathering spiritual food solely to the mother of the home which is dangerous ground if not done in יהוה’s way.

Mothers are to teach their children in the home, but the responsibility of teaching the Word and what is being taught in the home rests upon the man of the house and if he does not do this diligently then the door is wide open for a Izeḇel/jezebel spirit to come in and manipulate and control!

Verse 27 – some failed the test!

Some went out on the Sabbath and found no manna – they had refused to hear-guard and do the instructions of Elohim.

Today we see the same thing happening – many who start out on the Torah walk, find themselves compromising, by going to the shop and buying things, because they did not carefully plan and prepare on the 6^th day, and this is nothing more than a refusal to obey which has its severe consequences.

Mishlĕ/Proverbs 19:15 “Laziness makes one fall into a deep sleep, and an idle being suffers hunger.”

When laziness in regards to the keeping of His commands creeps in, the danger of falling into a dark sleep is a reality; and being idle in ‘eating’ and ‘gathering’ as we should will lead to a suffering hunger!

Here, the picture of going out on Sabbath to look for manna, is a picture of going out to work – this does not mean that one cannot leave their home in order to go to fellowship – in fact, the gathering of the set-apart ones is commanded on the Sabbath!.

Many have misunderstood this command given in verse 29, in regards to not letting anyone go out of his place on the 7^th day.

The instruction is in regards to ‘work’, and we are clearly told in Scripture that ‘we are the dwelling place of the Most-High’:

Qorintiyim Aleph/1 Corinthians 3:16 “Do you not know that you are a Dwelling Place of Elohim and that the Spirit of Elohim dwells in you?”

The term ‘you’ here is written in the plural making it clear that collectively we are the Dwelling Place of Elohim and so on the Shabbat we must not ‘go out’ of our Dwelling Place, as we immerse ourselves In Him and delight in His Shabbat, not doing our own things:.

Yeshayahu/Isaiah 58: 13-14 “If you do turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My set-apart day, and shall call the Sabbath ‘a delight,’ the set-apart day of יהוה ‘esteemed,’ and shall esteem it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, 14 then you shall delight yourself in יהוה. And I shall cause you to ride on the heights of the earth, and feed you with the inheritance of Ya’aqoḇ your father. For the mouth of יהוה has spoken!” .

And the people rested on the 7^th day! The word, in Hebrew, that is used here for ‘rested’ is שָׁבַת shaḇath – Strong’s H7673 which means, ‘to cease, desist, rest, observe, observe the rest, put an end’ and as a verb it means, ‘to keep, observe (the Sabbath)’.

What this ‘rested’ means, is that they ‘ceased from ‘working’ their daily work and observed the Sabbath!

Wayyiqra/Leviticus 25:2 “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall observe a Sabbath to יהוה.”

The word translated here as observe is the same word used for ‘rested’ – now you cannot observe the Sabbath if you ‘sleep’ all day!!!

The difference between ‘shabbâth’ שַׁבָּת – Strong’s H7676 and ‘shâḇath’ שָׁבַת – Strong’s H7673 is that shabbâth’ שַׁבָּת – Strong’s H7676 is the intensive form coming from H7673 which means to rest or observe and the intensive form of H7676 refers specifically to ‘the’ Sabbath as in ‘the’ 7^th day of the week..

It was on this very day – the 7^th day of the week that Elohim set-apart one day from the others and very specifically He blessed this 7^th day to be a day of rest in Him.

This has greater implications for us as we understand how the creation week itself gives us great insight in His redemptive plan and appointed times and so to misunderstand or incorrectly recognise the 7^th day as a clear marker for us could be detrimental to us knowing Him and walking fully in Him..

As we can see from Scripture, Elohim blessed and set apart the 7^th day, not the 1^st or 2^nd or 3^rd etc. – He blessed the 7^th day and set it (7^th day) apart from the rest..

When looking at the word שַׁבָּת Sabbath – Strong’s H7676 in the ancient pictographic text we recognise the importance of our proper observance of His Sabbaths as we see the following being rendering in the pictographic letters:.

.

Shin – שַׁ:

This is the letter ‘shin’ which in the ancient script is pictured as, , which is ‘two front teeth’ and carries the meaning of ‘sharp or press, chew or devour’; which is what the teeth do, and also speaks of the sharpened word that comes forth from the mouth as the teeth ‘chew’ or ‘meditate’ on the Truth, making what comes forth pure and sharp! It also carries the understanding of consuming or destroying – as teeth do to food..

Beyt – בָּ:

The ancient script has this letter as , which pictures a tent floor plan and means, ‘house’ or ‘tent’. It represents family and the importance of those who are inside the tent as opposed to the tent structure itself..

Taw – ת

The ancient script has this letter as which is pictured as two crossed sticks, and can represent for us ‘seal, covenant, mark or sign’; as this once again points to the complete work of Messiah in the renewal of the Covenant in His Blood that brings the two Houses of Yisra’ĕl and Yehuḏah together in Him, as One, for He is not only the ‘aleph’, but is also the ‘taw’ – the beginning and the end of all creation!

As we can see from the rendering of the word שַׁבָּת Sabbath – Strong’s H7676 in the ancient pictographic lettering, the following can be declared:.

THE WORD OF THE HOUSE IS SEALED.

This emphasises how The Sabbath is a sign that we are the House of Elohim, for it is His Word that marks us and the sign of that mark is our proper observance of His Sabbaths!

If we do not guard to keep and observe His Sabbaths then we are not sealed, nor are we guarding His Covenant that His Blood causes us to be grafted in to and the one who does not observe the Sabbaths of Elohim shall be cut off from His Everlasting Covenants of Promise!.

Verse 28

How long will you refuse to guard My commands and My Torot!!!

These are words that must continue to be echoed to a lost and hard-hearted people, for there are so many who wilfully refuse to submit to the keeping of the commands of Elohim and refuse to keep His Sabbaths.

The Hebrew root word that is used here for ‘refused’ is מָאֵן maen – Strong’s H3985 which means, ‘to refuse, absolutely refuse’, and represents an intentional action as opposed to one of ignorance.

So many today willingly refuse to hear the Truth that we as ambassadors of the Coming Reign are proclaiming together with His Spirit, calling people to come out and be separate!.

The Hebrew root word that is translated as ‘guard’ is שׁמר shâmar – Strong’s H8104 which carries the meaning ‘to guard, observe, give heed, perform, keep watch, pay attention’, and the basic idea of the root of this word is ‘to exercise great care over’.

We are to exercise great care over His Torah!

When used in combination with other verbs the meaning is ‘do carefully or diligently’, i.e. perform carefully by paying strict attention as to what must be done, as it expresses the careful attention to be paid to the obligations of a covenant, to laws, statutes, etc.

Another aspect of this word, carries the meaning of having to guard carefully and tend to or ‘take care of’, diligently..

When one takes care of a valued possession then the utmost diligence is exercised in ensuring that it is protected at all costs and it is taken care of through the correct maintenance and observance of its functional requirements to keep it in tact; and as it is with the Torah – we must guard it in our hearts and exercise it diligently, keeping ourselves free from the clutter or weeds of wickedness..

Aḏam was commanded to ‘guard’ (Shamar) the garden which carried with it great responsibility and the need to be watchful and at work; and we are to guard the good deposit in the soil of our hearts as we do all that we are commanded, nurturing the very growth that the Good Seed of His Living Word produces in our lives!

What is interesting and worth taking note of, is the frequent use of the word שָׁמַר shamar in the Torah.

It is used 148 times in 139 verses in the Torah – 15 times in 15 verses in Berěshith/Genesis, 25 times in 24 verses in Shemoth/Exodus; 16 times in 16 verses in Wayyiqra/Leviticus; 19 times in 19 verses in Bemiḏbar/Numbers and 73 times in 65 verses in Deḇarim/Deuteronomy!!!.

With Deḇarim being seen as the ‘second reading of the Torah’ as it was the instructions given to the new generation, we can see why the greater emphasis on the use of שָׁמַר shamar to the generation that was about to enter into the Promised Land!

Tehillah/Psalm 106:3 “Blessed are those who guard right-ruling, who do righteousness at all times!”.

The Hebrew word for ‘commands’ is מִצְוֹתַ mitsvoth and is the plural of the word מִצְוָה mitzvah – Strong’s H4687 which means, ‘commandment, command, obligation, precept’, which comes from the primitive root צָוָה tsavah – Strong’s H6680 which means, ‘to lay charge (upon), give charge to, command, order, appoint, commission, ordain’..

Shelomoh tells us in:

Mishlĕ/Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no vision, the people are let loose, but blessed is he who guards the Torah.”

When we carefully consider the words of this powerful parable, we take note that Shelomoh is emphasising the clear blessing of the guarding of the Torah, as it is clear that when we properly guard the Torah of Elohim, then we have a firm and secure vision of who our Master is and how He wants us to live and serve Him, in Spirit and Truth, as we guard to do all He has commanded us to do. Another way to look at this, is the clear fact that those who disregard the need to guard the Torah have no proper vision and lack the necessary discipline to stay in righteousness and are therefore ‘let loose’ to destruction!

Let us first take a look at the Hebrew word for ‘Torah’ in order to get a better understanding of this clear parable of Shelomoh.

The Hebrew word תּוֹרָה torah – Strong’s H8451 means, ‘utterance’, ‘teaching’, ‘instruction’ or ‘revelation’ from Elohim’.

Other definitions include: ‘information that is imparted to a student; direction; body of prophetic teaching; instruction on Messianic Age; body of priestly direction’, and this comes from the primitive root verb יָרָה yarah – Strong’s H3384 which means, ‘to shoot, throw, instruct, direct, teach’, which therefore can give us the understanding of ‘Torah’ to mean the following:.

TO AIM OR POINT IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION and MOVE IN THAT DIRECTION.

This root word is used 219 times in 213 verses, and what is worth taking note of, is that this word is used 25 times in Tehillah/Psalm 119, which is a very powerful Psalm that celebrates the true essence and functionality of the Torah of Elohim!.

The Torah gives us our ‘direction’ and bearings as we sojourn here, looking forward to the sure and promised hope of the return of our King and Teacher of Righteousness!

In other words, it means that ‘you aim or point in the right direction and you move in that direction’.

You can see that this meaning is way different as to how many understand the ‘burden’ that is typically associated with the word ‘Law’.

It is also interesting and wonderful for me how the word תּוֹרָה torah – Strong’s H8451 clearly reveals the Messiah!.

Let me show you how.

The original language spoken and written by Hebrews, is referred to as the Ancient Hebrew Script which consisted of an alphabet of pictographic symbols that each rendered its unique meaning, which later developed into the ‘middle script’ or Paleo-Hebrew and then into what is known as ‘Biblical Hebrew’, as we have it available for us today; and though the Hebrew Language went through a number of changes, we are able to discern the original symbols, or pictures, that were used which actually resembled their meaning..

Each symbol or picture carried a meaning or meanings and when symbols were collectively put together, they would spell a word that carried a meaning or clear description..

The Hebrew word תּוֹרָה torah – Strong’s H8451 is a combination of four symbols:

(Remember that Hebrew is read from right to left):.

In the ancient pictographic script, it is written as follows:.

.

And in the Biblical Hebrew text it is written as follows:

תּוֹרָה.

From right to left the four letters are as follows:.

Taw/Tav – תּ:

The ancient script has this letter as which is pictured as two crossed sticks, and can represent for us the meaning of, ‘seal, covenant, mark or sign’; as this once again points to the complete work of Messiah by the renewal of the Covenant in His Blood that brings the two Houses of Yisra’ĕl and Yehuḏah together in Him, as One; for He is not only the ‘aleph’, but is also the ‘taw’ – that is – the beginning and the end of all creation!.

Waw/Vav – וֹ:

The ancient script has this letter pictured as , which is a ‘peg or tent peg’, which was used for securing or tying the tent or other items. The possibility of it having a Y-shape is to show that it prevents the rope from slipping off. The root meaning of this letter is ‘to add, secure or hook’..

Resh – רָ:

The ancient script has this letter written as and is pictured as ‘the head of a man’ and has the meaning of the head of a man as well as chief, top, begging or first. It means ‘top’, as in the top or head of a body and ‘chief’, as in head of a tribe or people as well as the one who rules the people.

Hey – ה:

The ancient script has this letter pictured as , which is ‘a man standing with his arms raised out’. The meaning of the letter is “behold, look, breath, sigh and reveal or revelation”, from the idea of revealing a great sight by pointing it out.

It also carries for us the meaning of surrender, as we lift up our hands and submit to יהוה as we lift our hands in praise, declaring His authority under which we humbly submit!.

When we consider these pictographic symbols and their meanings, we can clearly see by the word rendered as ‘Torah’ the wonderful work of Messiah, who secures for us the Covenant in His own Blood that brings the two houses (Yehuḏah and Yisra’ĕl) – the two sticks – together!.

It could best be rendered in a powerful testimony of the work of Messiah as follows:

BEHOLD THE MAN, MESSIAH OUR HEAD, WHO BY HIS OWN BLOOD RENEWED THE COVENANT, NAILING TO THE ‘STAKE’ THAT WHICH WAS WRITTEN AGAINST US, AND SECURING THE COVENANT IN ORDER THAT THE TWO STICKS CAN BE BROUGHT BACK TOGETHER IN HIM, WHOM WE PRAISE

Other definitions based on this word could also render:

‘What comes from the man nailed to the ‘cross’ or upright pole’

and

‘Behold the man who secures the covenant’

and

‘To a cross is nailed the highest, it is revealed in Torah’.

Wow – how awesome is this!!!

Now – does this sound like a heavy law???

Not at all!!!

This description or definition does not make me think of fines or of a judge or of punishment or even of prison! יהושע tells us that His yoke is easy – His yoke is His Torah (that is – His instructions and teaching)!.

The Torah is NOT a worthless word to us – it is our life, as we see in:

Deḇarim/Deuteronomy 32:45-47 “And when Mosheh ended speaking all these words to all Yisra’ĕl, 46 he said to them, “Set your heart on all the words with which I warn you today, so that you command your children to guard to do all the Words of this Torah. 47 “For it is not a worthless Word for you, because it is your life, and by this Word you prolong your days on the soil which you pass over the Yardĕn to possess.”.

What was being made clear here, in Shemoth, was the refusal to obey the Torah and commands of Elohim, by breaking the Sabbath! And this question of how long will you refuse to obey, needs to be made loud and clear to many today, as they continue to stubbornly refuse to submit to properly obeying the Torah and commands of Elohim, and as a result, they shall not enter life!.

Verse 33

Aharon was told by Mosheh to take a pot and put an omer of manna in it and set it down before יהוה, to keep for all generations!

We know that this pot of manna was placed inside the Ark of the Covenant together with Aharon’s rod that budded and the two tablets of stone with the 10 Words on them..

I find this picture of the manna being placed in a pot and then set before יהוה, a very powerful one of our Messiah, for יהושע is the Bread of life that came down from heaven (manna), and He came and took on the flesh nature (put in a pot) in order to take our sins and as our High Priest (as pictured by Aharon) could draw near and be set before Elohim as an acceptable offering for our sins, according to the requirements and instructions of the Torah (Mosheh)..

Verse 36 – an omer in one tenth of an ephah.

An ephah basket, or the number 10, pictures a community or whole and when you see the next verse starting the next chapter it states and all the congregation of Yisra’ĕl – clarifying for us this representation.

It does not say that an ephah is ten, and as we know that an omer represents one person, then it is safe to say that the person who is not part of a congregation or assembly is not a true omer!

Therefore, an individual is defined as part of a whole group and not the other way around – a whole group is not defined by an individual!!!

The word for ‘sheaf’, in the Hebrew, is ‘omer’ which was the dry measure of food stuffs and was a 1/10^th part of an ephah – a dry measurement of grain equalling to the approximate amount of 22 litres, therefore an omer was around 2,2 litres dry equivalent.

It is described as the measure of the seed resulting from one sheaf of grain.

An omer was also deemed by יהוה to be the sufficient measure of ‘manna’ that an average person could eat in one day.

Therefore, an omer or sheaf also symbolises a single person and is in fact a picture of oneself being turned over to יהוה for the process of becoming useful to His community – His Bride!.

CHAPTER 17

Stop 10 – Rephiḏim

The Hebrew word רְפִידִים Rephiḏim – Strong’s H7508 means, “rests/stays or resting places”.

This can also mean ‘support’ or ‘spread them’ as in ‘spreading the hands’ and can come from the words meaning ‘weakening of the hands’.

So, what we can see here at Rephiḏim are a couple of lessons for us. It can speak of weak hands, and as we know that in Scripture weak hands speak of being depleted and drained and the lesson that we can deduct from this, is that when your hands are weak – spread them!

When our hands are weak – when we are tired or frustrated – we should spread them in praise and prayer to יהוה.

There are 3 key events that take place here:

1 – This is where water flowed from the rock as Mosheh acted in anger and ‘spread out his hand’ and struck the rock for water to flow as opposed to simply speaking to the Rock when the people were moaning and groaning that they were brought out from Mitsrayim to die.

In Ḥazon/Revelation 13:3 the anti-messiah uses false signs to appear as power from Elohim.

“And I saw one of his heads, as having been slain to death, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the earth marvelled after the beast.”

Signs and wonders are what certainly attract the masses and the gullible

who do not know the Word! They will see the enemy doing many signs and wonders and they will marvel and be led to believe it is from Elohim.

It is a wicked and adulterous generation that seeks after signs and wonders and this is what the enemy will do. We certainly do not deny that Elohim works wonders and miracles, and this He does so on a daily basis, yet we do not seek after them – they shall follow those who walk in Messiah. We can certainly have water from the Rock miracles happening today, but we must realize that the enemy too can perform his tricks that will lead many astray!.

2 – Battle against Amalĕq – as long as Mosheh held up his hands (spread them), Yehoshua gained ground on the battlefield and was victorious, however when the hands of Mosheh grew tired, Yehoshua lost ground and so Aharon and Ḥur came and lifted up the hands of Mosheh all day and so spread his hands in support!

It was at this event that Mosheh built an altar and called its name יהוה Nissi – יהוה our banner – a banner speaks of the identity of the one under whom you walk and serve and also gives us the imagery of raised worship.

Tehillah/Psalm 134:2 “Lift up your hands in the set-apart place, and bless יהוה.”

The enemy of course puts his mark on the weak hands of the unbelievers – those who do not worship in Spirit and in Truth.

The mark of our worship is determined by our Sabbath keeping – those who fail to do so receive the mark of the beast and reveal weak hands that are not raised in worship unto Elohim!

What we can also learn from this stop is that we are to lift each other up and encourage each other daily, and to spread one’s hands or assist one’s weak hands is how we show love for one another as we care for one another, fellowship together and pray for each other..

3 – Mosheh is confronted by Yithro his father in law and he realizes that he cannot handle all the cases and has to ‘spread the load’.

We also need to realize that we cannot do it all alone – we need each other and we are to bear one another’s burdens. Strengthen the weak knees and the hands that hang limp!

Iḇ’rim/Hebrews 12:12 “So, strengthen the hands which hang down and the weak knees.”

This verse 12 tells us to ‘strengthen’ the hands which hang down and the weak knees.

This is a call to renew spiritual vitality! You want to run with endurance then you need to strengthen the weak!

The Greek word for ‘strengthen’ is ἀνορθόω – anorthoō – Strong’s G461 which means, ‘to make straight or upright again, lift up, restore, strengthen’.

It is time to make straight that which has been twisted and caused to become weakened!!!

This is written in the ‘plural imperative’ which simply means that this requires a joint effort..

We need to strengthen one another – our hands are to be raised in worship – Sha’ul tells us that he wants men everywhere to lift up their hands in praise – weakened hands are symbolic of burdened and heavy hands as the yoke of slavery to traditions and rat race dogmas has weighed them down and each one of us has a part to play in lifting each other up – strengthen the hands – strengthening the work of doing His Word with great joy!.

This wording that is used here, makes us remember the account of Mosheh when his hands grew tired and heavy and Aharon and Ḥur held up his hands all day and Yehoshua won the battle against Amalĕq that day! (Shemoth/Exodus 17:1-12).

There is no place for ‘lone rangers’ in the body – we are to strengthen each other and realise that you cannot do it alone – you will need the strengthening of others! This concept of helping each other is right through Iḇ’rim/Hebrews:

Iḇ’rim/Hebrews 3:13 “but encourage one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened by the deceivableness of sin.”

Iḇ’rim/Hebrews 10:24-25 “And let us be concerned for one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging, and so much more as you see the Day coming near”.

Please refer to a message called “How Strong are your hands” for further study from our site at the following link:

https://atfotc.com/how-strong-are-your-hands-2-chronicles-15/.

Verse 2 – striving with Mosheh is the same as trying יהוה! How many today find themselves still steeped in Mitsrayim striving with Mosheh (Torah)!

Verse 6 – The Rock – our source of Living Water

Qorintiyim Aleph/1 Corinthians 10:1-6 “For I do not wish you to be ignorant, brothers, that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were immersed into Mosheh in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed, and the Rock was Messiah. 5 However, with most of them Elohim was not well pleased, for they were laid low in the wilderness. 6 And these became examples for us, so that we should not lust after evil, as those indeed lusted.”

In this miraculous event we see water from the Rock which is יהושע who was ‘struck’ for us and He is the Living Water that whoever comes to Him shall never thirst again..

In Ḥazon/Revelation 13:3 the anti-messiah uses false signs to appear as power from Elohim for which we must be on our guard.

“And I saw one of his heads, as having been slain to death, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the earth marvelled after the beast.”

Signs and wonders, is what certainly attract the masses and the gullible who do not know the Word!

They will see the enemy doing many signs and wonders and they will marvel and be led to believe it is form Elohim – It is a wicked and adulterous generation that seeks after signs and wonders and this is what the enemy will do. We certainly do not deny that Elohim works wonders and miracles, and this HE does so, on a daily basis, yet we do not seek after them – they shall follow those who walk in Messiah. We can certainly have water from the Rock miracles happening today, but we must realize that the enemy too can perform his tricks that will lead many astray!.

Our source of Living Water is in our Master, Redeemer and King, יהושע Messiah, our Rock!

The question is – Are you drinking or grumbling?

Please see the sermon notes on a message called, ‘THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE – ARE YOU DRINKING’, from our website by following the link below:

https://atfotc.com/the-fountain-of-life-are-you-drinking-john-4-5-14/.

Verse 7

The name of the place was called “Massah” and “Meriḇah”: Massah – מַסָּה Strong’s H4532 meaning, ‘temptation, test, try, prove’ and מְרִיבָה Meriḇah – Strong’s H4808 means, ‘strife, contentions’ and comes from the root word רִיב riḇ – Strong’s H7378 meaning, ‘to strive, contend, argue, complain, find fault, quarrel’.

This was a place where they constantly found fault with their ‘Wilderness’ sojourning and having to listen to Mosheh and Aharon!

This was a place where, instead of their hearts being united in set-apartness, were hardened and cried out in contention against the Word of Elohim, the very thing we are to guard against:

Tehillah/Psalm 95:8 “Do not harden your hearts as in Meriḇah, and as in the day of Massah in the wilderness”

We ought to be urging and encouraging each other on in remaining faithful and obedient in love:

Iḇ’rim/Hebrews 3:13 “but encourage one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened by the deceivableness of sin.”

We are to also learn not to refuse the voice of Elohim and His instructions as given through Mosheh and revealed through the life, death and resurrection of Messiah!

Iḇ’rim/Hebrews 12:25 “Take heed not to refuse the One speaking. For if those did not escape who refused the warning on earth, much less we who turn away from Him from heaven”

Hardened and unrepentant hearts are headed for destruction!

Romiyim/Romans 2:5 “But according to your hardness and your unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of Elohim”

When the tests come – rejoice – do not complain, argue or quarrel!

Ya’aqoḇ/James 1:2-4 “My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the proving of your belief works endurance. 4 And let endurance have a perfect work, so that you be perfect and complete, lacking in naught.”.

We can learn a great lesson from Yisra’ĕl here – and that is, that we know that test will come – that is guaranteed – but how we respond, is key!

We must not rebel as they did at Meriḇah, but rather count it all joy, so that we can let our belief work endurance and grow in maturity!.

Battle against Amalĕq – as long as Mosheh held up his hands Yehoshua gained ground on the battlefield and was victorious, however when the hands of Mosheh grew tired, Yehoshua lost ground and so Aharon and Ḥur came and lifted up the hands of Mosheh all day and so spread his hands in support!

It was at this event that Mosheh built an altar and called its name – יהוה נִסִּי – יהוה Nissi – Strong’s H3071, which means – יהוה our banner or – יהוה is my banner – a banner speaks of the one under whom you walk and serve and gives the imagery of raised worship.

This compound title is a construct of two words:

1) The Name of יהוה – Strong’s H3068

2) נֵס nes – Strong’s H5251 which means, ‘a standard, ensign, signal, sign, banner, distinguishing mark’, and is the word translated as ‘banner’ in:

Tehillah/Psalm 60:4 “You have given a banner to those who fear You, that it might be lifted up because of the truth. Selah.”

Tehillah/Psalm 134:2 “Lift up your hands in the set-apart place, and bless יהוה.”.

The enemy of course puts his mark on the weak hands of the unbelievers – those who do not worship in Spirit and in Truth. The mark of our worship is determined by our Sabbath keeping – those who fail to do so receive the mark of the beast and reveal weak hands that are not raised in worship unto Elohim!

What we can also learn from this stop is that we are to lift each other up and encourage each other daily, and to spread one’s hands or assist one’s weak hands is how we show love for one another as we care for one another, fellowship together and pray for each other..

In verse 11 we are told that when Mosheh held up his hand, that Yisra’ĕl ‘prevailed’ and this word in the Hebrew is גָּבַר gaḇar – Strong’s H1396, which means, ‘to be strong and mighty, prevail’, and our strength comes from our ability to trust in and obey יהוה as we hold up our hand to His instructions, declaring to whom we belong!

As long as we ‘hold up our hand to His Torah, we will walk in victory in Messiah, our Redeemer and King!

If we let down our hand and discard the Torah then the Amalĕq’s of this world will prevail over us.

When we do not guard the commands and let our hands down in disobedience then the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth can come and choke out the Word; and so, we are to strengthen our hands!.

Verse 8

עֲמָלֵק Amalĕq – Strong’s H6002 meaning, ‘dweller in the valley’ fought with Yisra’ĕl in Rephiḏim!

יִשְׂרָאֵל Yisra’ĕl – Strong’s H3478 means, ‘he who prevails, overcomes with El’ and comes from the primitive root words, אֵל el – Strong’s H410 which means, ‘Mighty, power, shortened form of Elohim – Mighty One’ and the root word verb שָׂרָה sarah – Strong’s H8280 which means, ‘to persist, exert oneself, persevere, wrestle, contend’, and is spelt the same way as the wife of Aḇraham!.

רְפִידִים Rephiḏim – Strong’s H7508 means “rests/stays or resting places”.

This can also mean ‘support’ or ‘spread them’ as in ‘spreading the hands’ and can come from the words meaning ‘weakening of the hands’.

So, what we can see here at Rephiḏim are a couple of lessons for us. It can speak of weak hands, and as we know that in Scripture weak hands speak of being depleted and drained and the lesson that we can deduce from this, is that when your hands are weak – spread them!

When our hands are weak – when we are tired or frustrated – we should spread them in praise and prayer to יהוה..

We can see a powerful picture here that helps us recognize why we often get so much resistance for simply worshipping יהוה the way we are instructed in His Torah!

Those who ‘dwell in the valley’ so to speak – the Amalĕq’s of today – will always come and fight and put up a resistance against those who overcome with Elohim and persevere in guarding His commands.

Those in the valley of decision, who are unable to make up their minds or stubbornly refuse to let go of the world and its traditions will always strive and fight against us – in the “resting places” – that is to say that because we ‘remember to keep the Sabbath’ and all the other Feasts of יהוה, the valley dwellers will always have much to say to us and fight with us about our obedience..

Most of the resistance we face from others who do not walk according to the Torah is in regards to our keeping of יהוה’s commanded Feasts – the True resting times/places we have in Him!

The Hebrew word for ‘fight’ here in verse 8 is לָחַם laḥam – Strong’s H3898 which means, ‘to fight, do battle, conquer’ and can also carry the meaning, ‘consume, to use as food, eat’, and it is from this root word that we get the word לֶחֶם leḥem – Strong’s H3899 which means, ‘bread, food, provision’, as already diascussed..

When we obediently take heed of the instructions of יהוה and gather together as we should, then we are in fact feeding the community with growth, as we conquer that which does not belong in order to enrich the community or body, we are made a part of!

Battles make us stronger and able to encourage others to face what we have already faced and overcome in Messiah!.

We also need to realize that we cannot do it all alone – we need each other and we are to bear one another’s burdens. Strengthen the weak knees and the hands that hang limp! Aharon and Ḥur held up Mosheh’s hands!.

Verse 13

Yehoshua defeated Amalĕq and his people with the edge of His sword!

This is a powerful shadow picture of the defeat of the enemy by the mighty Word of our Master and Elohim -יהושע Messiah..

The Hebrew word that is used here for ‘defeated’ is חָלַשׁ ḥalash – Strong’s H2522 which means, ‘to be weakened, lie prostrate, disable’; and from this we are clearly able to see how our Master and King, יהושע causes the enemy to be weakened and how even the enemy will be caused to fall down before Him!

The edge ofיהושע ‘s sword is sharper than a double-edged sword – that is His Word – and His Word prevails, giving us strength to be more than overcomers through him who loved us!.

Verse 16 – there will always be an Amalĕq against the people of יהוה, and so יהוה will always fight for us!!!

Tehillah/Psalm 21:8-13 “Your hand reaches all Your enemies; Your right hand reaches those who hate You. 9 You make them as a furnace of fire in the time of Your presence; יהוה does swallow them up in His wrath, and fire does consume them. 10 You destroy their fruit from the earth, and their seed from among the sons of men. 11 For they held out evil against You; they devised a plot; they do not prevail. 12 For You make them turn their back, when You aim with Your bowstring toward their faces. 13 Be exalted, O יהוה, in Your strength! We sing and we praise Your might.” .

Here, in verse 16 of Shemoth/Exodus 17, we are also given the power of the full assurance that we serve a Living Elohim!.

When we understand, in Hebrew, that a hand is often used as a metaphor for the work, or the working strength of a being, then we are also able to see that by the expression of ‘a hand is on the throne of Yah’, we are able to fully grasp that the One who fights for us, is active in His right-ruling and judgements, as His throne, which represents His Authority, is a Throne upon which there is a Living, working and Saving Hand, which further emphasises that, due to this fact, we shall always have the Hand of Yah fighting our enemies for us!

יהושע Messiah, the Outstretched Arm and Right Hand of Elohim, is ‘on the Throne of Yah’, while He is also continually interceding for us, as High Priest forever, in the order of Malkitseḏeq.

The thrones of other false mighty ones are simply man made thrones in which there is no life or power, yet the Throne of or Elohim, the Elohim of the Living, is active and in the power and Authority of the Living Word that proceeds from the Throne, we have the full assurance of the promised provision and protection of our great Elohim and saviour!.

As we consider these words that are contained in this verse 16, we take note of a couple of varied translations or rather interpretations as to what the text is saying..

The phrase ‘Because a hand is on the throne of Yah’ has various translators stating that the Hebrew word for ‘throne’ may in fact have been the word for ‘banner’, especially as we consider the declaration of the slaughter-place that was built as a remembrance and called יהוה נִסִּי – יהוה Nissi, which means – יהוה our banner or – יהוה is my banner..

In Hebrew the phrase, ‘Because a hand is on the throne of Yah’, is written as follows:

כִּי־יָד עַל־כֵּס יָהּ – kiy-yaḏ al-kes Yah.

Broken down word by word, we take note of the root meaning of each word:

כִּי kiy – Strong’s H3588 is a primary conjunction that can mean, ‘that, for, when, because, if, since’ and here clearly begins a clear statement that will be followed by the resulting action of what is first being declared!

יָד  yaḏ – Strong’s H3027 is a primitive noun which is translated as, ‘hand, command, authority, power, tenon, side’, and the primary meaning of this noun is “the terminal part of the arm used to perform functions of man’s will.”

And we understand in the Hebraic mind-set that one’s hand symbolises what one does or one’s ‘works’ and to us as believers it speaks of our works of righteousness – that is the guarding and doing of His commands, while to unbelievers it can signify their works of unrighteousness or lawlessness!

כֵּס kes – this word that has been translated as ‘throne’ is thought to be a construct of the word כִּסֵּא kisse – Strong’s H3678 which means, ‘seat of honour, throne, authority, and official seat’, and speaks of the seat of the king and is a symbol of royal authority.

יה Yah – Strong’s H3050 which is the contracted Name of יהוה.

So, what is it that has translators questioning the Hebrew phrase here?

It is the word that is translated as ‘throne’ – כֵּס kes – as some translators believe that the word ‘banner’ is better suited here and explain that the reason for this is that the original Hebrew word may have rather been the word נֵס nes – Strong’s H5251 which means, ‘a standard, ensign, signal, sign, banner, distinguishing mark’..

The thought is that the two Hebrew letters כֵּ – ‘kaf’ and נֵ– ‘nun’ can often look the same when written in free hand and some maintain that it is possible that the writer was writing a ‘nun’ but may have looked like a ‘kaf’.

If this was the case then the phrase would render the following: ‘

because a hand is on the banner of Yah’..

For some this makes better sense, especially in following the compound Name of:

יהוה נִסִּי – YAHWEH Nissi.

While there may be debate over this, what is made very clear here is that on that day Mosheh made a clear declaration of Truth, that יהוה would fight against Amalĕq from generation to generation!.

Another aspect that has been presented by some is that the hand being referred to here may be that of Amalĕq’s, which renders for us the picture of Amalĕq assuming the role of being in authority by ‘putting their hand on the throne/banner’ of Yah, hence the statement that Mosheh makes becoming clear that because of this false authority that sets itself up as Elohim, יהוה Himself will fight against that which tries to set themselves up in the place of Elohim!

The throne represents the authority and right-ruling or judgement while the banner represents the display of who one’s authority is..

With this interpretation we can see the picture of the anti-Messiah trying to be the authority and get other to follow his wicked authority which he does by works of falsehood, trickery and lies! With the interpretation of the hand being on the throne/banner representing Amalĕq we take note of the lesson we can get from this in this being a warning against stubbornness and pride..

Amalĕq, as already mentioned, means, ‘dweller in the valley’ and can represent for us those who are in the ‘valley of decision’, so to speak, and are double minded in their walk as they refuse to humbly submit to the true judgement and leadership of Messiah! What Mosheh is making very clear here is that יהוה is against all those who are against Him and His people! There will always be an Amalĕq against the people of יהוה, and so יהוה will always fight for us!!!

Tehillah/Psalm 21:8-13 “Your hand reaches all Your enemies; Your right hand reaches those who hate You. 9 You make them as a furnace of fire in the time of Your presence; יהוה does swallow them up in His wrath, And fire does consume them. 10 You destroy their fruit from the earth, and their seed from among the sons of men. 11 For they held out evil against You; they devised a plot; they do not prevail. 12 For You make them turn their back, When You aim with Your bowstring toward their faces. 13 Be exalted, O יהוה, in Your strength! We sing and we praise Your might.”

The varying interpretations and possible translations of this unique phrase of a hand being on the throne/banner of Yah can be both a great encouragement as well as a stern warning, as we recognise the joy of knowing that we have a Mighty Elohim who fights for us, while we also recognise the caution against pride and assuming to be your own authority and doing what is right in your own eyes, for יהוה will bring down those who have proud hearts and have exalted themselves above Him!

Tas’loniqim Bět/2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 “Let no one deceive you in any way, because the falling away is to come first, and the man of lawlessness is to be revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called Elohim or that is worshipped, so that he sits as Elohim in the Dwelling Place of Elohim, showing himself that he is Elohim.”.

Whichever way you may interpret these words of Mosheh, in verse 16, we can be sure of the Truth that we have a Mighty Elohim who fights for us, and under whom we submit and walk, and in doing so we have great confidence, boldness sand shalom to stand firm and armed in His Truth as we lift our hands in praise and prayer, making our boast and praise in Him while also praying for each other..

We also recognise that despite the enemies attempt at trying to usurp the authority of Elohim over others through works of lawlessness and pride, יהוה will fight against all that exalts itself against the knowledge of Elohim!.

May we therefore walk under the banner of the Most-High as we walk in victory and overcome:

Qorintiyim Bět/2 Corinthians 2: 14-16 “But thanks be to Elohim who always leads us on, to overcome in Messiah, and manifests through us the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. 15 Because we are to Elohim the fragrance of Messiah among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the smell of death to death, and to the other the fragrance of life to life. And who is competent for these?”

Shalom!.