Sibling Rivalry

It’s sometimes hard to grapple with how a potentially sinful aspect of our humanity like “sibling rivalry” is often the engine of YHVH’s end game. Once we come to terms with this reality, it should affect our walk in a serious way. Take a look at this interesting pattern and prophecy of YHVH:

Genesis 37:6-11, “He said to them, "Hear this dream that I have dreamed: Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf." His brothers said to him, "Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?" So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, "Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me." But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, "What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?" And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.”

Of course, short term, this sibling rivalry ended up with Joseph in the bottom of a dry pit, and eventually sold into slavery. The temporary demise of the weakest and most beloved brother, however, ends up with him second in command in Egypt, and becoming the savior of the very brothers whose jealousy provoked them to sin. If this was the only instance of intense jealously turning into blessing, we could just chalk it up to “YHVH works all things together to good to those who love Yah”. But the incidence of Joseph and his brothers is just part of a biblical pattern that reaches into our very lives today.

Deuteronomy 32:21, “They have made me jealous with what is no god; they have provoked me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are no people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.” This passage is a prophesy about what will happen once the Children of Israel enter into the Land, and soon forget YHVH’s holy instructions. These words have been fulfilled in various ways over the centuries, but Paul echo’s the heart of Yah in Romans 11:13-15, “Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?”

It’s funny how Paul’s reputation today is only “The Apostle to the Gentiles”, but his own words show that this is only a strategy to reach his own people. Once Jews see gentiles from several “foolish nations” adopting the Torah as taught by Yeshua the Messiah as a lifestyle, they will be provoked to jealousy. Of course, Paul himself was a target of this strategy as his initial reaction to those following Yeshua was intense jealousy; a jealousy so intense it resulted in him being an accessory to murder! All Paul needed was a healthy redirection of that passion, and once Yeshua set him straight, he turned the whole world upside down for YHVH.

How are we as His people “making Jews jealous”? I’d have to say that generally, the main-stream church has either forgotten, ignored, or rebelled against YHVH’s heart on the matter. Instead of honoring the biblical Sabbath as Messiah did and as most Jews still faithfully do, the church has changed it do a different day. Instead of embracing YHVH's "appointed times" as Messiah did and as most Jews still faithfully do, the church has embraced former pagan holidays and re-branded them “Christian”. Instead of following all of the "old testament" commandments as Messiah did and as most faithful Jews attempt to do, the church ignores their own Messiah’s lifestyle and declares that the eternal Holy instructions have been “nailed to the cross” and “done away with”. A "Torah observant" life is instead harshly judged as "living under the law". If you were a Jew, would this make you jealous or just righteously angry? Even more harshly, if you were a Jew would you see the "Jesus" the church protrays as the Messiah, or as an anti-Messiah!?

Here is a simple but profound question to wrestle with and pray about: Would your personal lifestyle as a believer be attractive or even interesting in any way to an orthodox or even a casual Jew, or is it unrecognizable or even insulting when compared to the Torah's commandments?

-Ben

Our Feast Notebook

In the beginning....the Feasts were very confusing! There was so much to learn and sort through in regards to YHVH's Appointed Times. There were (ARE!) calendar differences and teachings, traditions to consider. The relevant Scriptures were peppered here and there in The Bible and wanted to keep track of the threads of evidences of the Feasts in not so obvious places, as we discovered them outside of the initial Torah instructions too. It was SO much to keep up with! So I decided to start a Feast Notebook. This notebook has nothing but FUNCTION in mind. Organizing my thoughts from one year to the next is important to me as I desire to see the "big picture" of His plan and how He has unfolded our own walk as we learn to synchronize our lives with it.

These are other elements that I try to incorporate into my Feast Notebook:

• I chose a notebook that was rugged enough to last through the years, and could handle being toted with us, shoved under the car seats during trips to special events and to withstand the riggers of camping trips for Sukkot. I wanted a notebook with lots of room, and secured pockets too. I love the zipper element of this too. It helps hold in loose odds and ends that may get tucked in "on the fly" and it keeps them safe until I can get back to it and properly secure and organize them. This notebook was the perfect choice for us.

• I also wanted a place to tuck teachings that were helpful or instramental in our walk in regards to the Feasts, as well as links.

• I wanted to provide a place to journal our personal experiences, each year for each event. How we observed it and the personal little thing you don't want to forget, like mishaps, and things related to the development of the children, as well as our spiritual revelations and growth.

• YHVH always puts new people in our path during the Appointed Times. People whom we can minister to and others who minister to us. We are so encouraged by seeing what Yah is doing in the lives of others and the work that he is doing in the hearts of His people as He is restoring them to His Word and Himself in mighty ways! This too, is something I want to keep records of. This helps me keep these folks in prayer year after year, even if we never have the opportunity to meet again. This community is like none other...there is a true sense of FAMILY that is built in keeping Yah's Appointed Times together. It is like brothers and sisters coming together to honor the Father they love at His request, they gather and celebrate Him. This is also a place for a "directory" to stay in touch with those folks, since they are often from far away places. It is so precious!

• Decorations, centerpieces, teaching tools, and things like that were also things I wanted to make notes about or even save in a "feast tub" to reuse if we really liked them. The notebook would provide a central place for that. Maybe that centerpiece we used that one year, didn't "do anything" for me...but one of the children remembered it as very special and they would like to recreate it when they start keeping Feasts in their own home. One may never know! SO a picture or even a little "how to" that was saved might really bless them in the future. It might bring a little piece of "home" with them when they find them selves far from us or maybe we have passed on.

• I have a divider with a pocket labeled for each Feast. These are placed in order of the Biblical Year. On the front of each divider is a "practical" element of the timing of the feast (which was so helpful in the beginning!!). The pockets allow me to quickly tuck in loose papers, pamphlets, keep sakes etc.

• I wanted to have a place to collect special feast recipes. I have our Pesach Lamb recipes, Charoset, and lots of Matzah recipes. Food is always intermingled into the Appointed Times in some way, so I wanted to be sure I recorded my successes, and even my failures if they are things I want to be sure to learn from.
  
  Now, don't get me wrong. I love things to be beautiful too...and I really enjoy the creative process of making things beautiful and special! However, I had to accept that there is 'a time and season for everything'. So I came to terms with the fact that for now...in this season (of likely SEVERAL years), I am going to try to just record as much as I can...then when the kids are grown and I have more time on my hands...if Y'shua has not yet returned....I will turn this eclectic collection of materials into a beautiful keepsake for each of my children. That was a compromise I decided I could live with.
  
  Keepin' it Real: When it comes to cataloging things, I seem to always fall short of my intent to do the grand things I plan. I start things and don't follow through to my satisfaction...but that is changing as I learn to be more practical about my goals and limitations and stop beating myself up over my ideals and my reality. I still aim high, but I have learned to push through my imperfections and make lemonade out of my lemons (instead of pitching the lemons in the trash, because I originally planned for was 'peaches')! With persistence and grace....each year, I get better and may add a new element or habit to the process to make it more complete and thorough. One year I might be really good at adding recipes, while another year I may be really good at journaling. One year I may forget about it all together, while the next year I become diligent to update and contribute to all the elements of the project.... And so it is...an accurate record of our walk after all..isn't it?!!!
  
  
  

Are Christians Hebrews?

We hope you enjoy this 6 page study on the word "Hebrew" as it relates to the true family of YHVH both in the past and today. A large part of this study is a breakdown of the name Abraham, which gives us many powerful clues to who Hebrews really are. Due to the frequent usage of the Hebrew language, we converted the file to a PDF, which should allow most people to better read it through their browser or through Acrobat. We enjoyed doing it, we hope you enjoy it too. - Ben

By request: A quick Midrash on Romans 14

Before any honest discussion of Paul’s writings can begin we need to remind ourselves of who he was and what his letters were meant to be. Firstly, Paul was accused of overriding the “Jewish” Torah, but he consistently and adamantly denied ever doing so (please read Acts 25). This is crucial. If Paul is lying in court to save his butt from stoning, he can't be trusted as a teacher. If Paul did teach that the Torah was no longer relevant, then he is NOT teaching what the Messiah taught (read Matt 5:17-19), and therefore can't be trusted as a teacher. Since it is unanimous that Paul can be trusted, any modern church doctrine that claims to be based on his writings, yet overturns the Father’s written Torah commands is simply an incorrect doctrine.

Secondly, we must always remember that Paul’s writings were not considered (by him, the author) to be as weighty as scripture itself. The only writings the Paul considered to be Scripture, were the same writings that Yeshua considered to be Scripture…the “Old Testament”. As I believe that Paul’s writings are inspired, accurate, and consistent with the Torah, I do in fact consider them to be Scripture. The early church, however, did not have written gospel accounts, nor any of Paul’s epistles for decades after Yeshua ascended. Paul himself didn't really come on the scene for 14 years after the road to Damascus event that changed his life (read Galatians for his testimony). All the earliest Church had was the Torah and the rest of the O.T., plus the eyewitnesses of what Yeshua preached in relation to these already existing foundational documents.

The key to context is remembering that Paul’s letters were mostly responses to other letters that we do not have. Imagine listening to a talk show called “Ask the Torah Expert” but we can’t hear what the callers are asking, just the brilliantly worded and inspired answers from the host. Imagine further that we ourselves know little-to-nothing about the Torah. Now imagine this popular and life-changing show being translated from Greek into English, or perhaps from Hebrew to Greek and then into English. Oh yes, did I mention it was recorded 2000 years ago? If we took his out-of-context advice, and tried to live it out, we would end up very confused, and acting very peculiar indeed. This is what Peter warned about when he said: “Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. (2 Peter 3: 15-17)

With all that as a foundation to several of our misunderstandings of Paul’s teachings…here is how I understand Romans 14. The entire chapter deals with food customs that were dividing the Roman congregation. From the beginning of Romans 14 to the end, food and drink are mentioned 16 times. What is acceptable to eat, and when it is acceptable to eat it, are the two issues Paul tackles in this chapter.

“Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand." (Romans 14:1)

Paul begins this chapter by telling the Romans not to pass judgment on one another in regards to differences of opinion--specifically in this case: eating meat vs. eating only vegetables. Why the dietary battle? It's not about calories, nor is it about genetic modification or organic standards.


“I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean [koinon] of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean [koinon], to him it is unclean [koinon]." This word, "koinon" would be better translated as "defiled." Therefore, verse 14, when translated properly, should read: "I know and am convinced by the Master Yeshua that there is nothing defiled of itself; but to him who considers anything to be defiled, to him it is defiled." (Romans 14:14)

There were those in the congregation that considered the meat sold in the meat markets to be ceremonially "defiled" (koinon). The Roman congregation assumed most of the meat sold in the local market was defiled because it had been offered in sacrifice to idols. This is certainly a disputable matter, but has NOTHING to do with the type of meat (i.e. choosing beef over ham for example), as beef is Biblically permissible food, and Ham is not. That matter is not in dispute here. This issue is purely about whether otherwise Biblically acceptable food would still be acceptable if had been offered to an idol first.

The Roman's issue was not unique. (Read 1Cor. 10:18-28). His answer to the Corinthians' concerns over this issue was that they should eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience about whether the meat had been sacrificed to an idol (1Cor. 10:25). But if they knew for certain that meat had been sacrificed to an idol, they were to avoid eating it (1 Cor. 10:28). Paul's advice to the Romans was identical. He said he was convinced that nothing was defiled of itself. In other words, he told the Roman believers not to live in fear by automatically assuming that meat sold in the marketplace had been sacrificed to idols. However, he went on, if someone in the congregation could not in good conscience eat such meat (because they could not be certain it had not been sacrificed to an idol), then to him it was defiled and he shouldn't eat it. It is natural for those who are "weaker in their faith" to err on the side of caution, and we should never accidentally discourage them by our different choices due our deeper understanding of Torah.

This principle came in to play just today. A Jewish nieghbor of mine asked me if I thought a conch was OK to use instead of a ram’s horn for sounding the "shofar" in worship. I pointed out that a conch was really the exoskeleton of an “unclean” animal, so it might not be acceptable for worshipping the Father. Then I pointed out that it seems like the outer skin of the wilderness tabernacle was made from some sort of “unclean” animal, so there seemed to be precedence in Scripture for that sort of thing. She wasn’t eating the conch, just blowing on its painted shell. Her heart was certainly in the right place, even asking the question showed that. This was totally her call to make…a bonefide disputable matter. She chose to blow it…only afterwards mentioned that she got it from a Buddhist Monk in Tibet--which if it was my conch, would have been the deal breaker. However, it is NOT up to me to judge another man’s servant…as Paul wisely points out.

Then, Paul tackles WHEN it is OK to eat:

“One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.” (Romans 14:5)

Fasting (not eating) is an interesting subject in the Old Testament. It is obviously an endorsed practice, but the guidelines and timeframes are NOT spelled out clearly. In the Talmud (a collection of Jewish commentary and traditions) however, Pharisees fasted regularly on Monday’s and Thursday’s. The Gospel of Luke points out: "The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men – extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.' (Luke 11:11-12). The early church was in conflict about whether to simply follow Jewish tradition in this and many other matters. Paul's point in Romans 14:5-6 is that since no particular days of the week had been sanctioned in the Torah for fasting, those who chose to fast on a regular schedule would be accepted if they honestly did it to honor YHVH. Likewise, those who didn't view any particular day as mandatory for fasting would be accepted if they did it in the proper spirit and gave thanks to YHVH.

Paul goes on in the rest of chapter 14 to urge the believers in Rome not to judge one another and not to cause their brethren to stumble, and to be sure that regardless of what they each individually decide-- that they are not simply following the crowd but are doing it with trusting faithfulness in the Father. “But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.” This principle again carries into all disputable matters. As 1 John points out, "Sin is transgression of the Law". Paul now takes that one step further...not only is breaking the Torah a sin, but even within the freedoms provided by the Torah, you are still sinning if you are not being faithful to what YHVH has placed on your heart by His Spirit. Did you give that sandwich to that homeless man you walked passed this morning...you know The Father prompted you to? Did you pray for your coworker who asked for prayer? You know you should...did you? Both situations are not specific Torah commands, yet both situations would be sin if you broke faith with The Father due to disobedience.

There are very reasonable and far more self-explanatory answers to the few other places in the New Testament that seem to give us fresh license to repeal God’s eternal commandments. The Romans 14 verses do take a little more study to put them into context. The real question is “why in the world would God care what we eat?” What does what we eat have to do with our spirits, and with love? The simplest explanation is that the Father wants us to be SET APART for Him. This is brought up again and again and again in both the Torah, and the New Testament. What we shove in our face is a decision that we must make several times per day. This gives us that many more times per day to actively remember who we are, and make a difficult (at first) choice to abstain from foods that our Father calls “abominations”.

The desire to ignore clear commandments is embedded in our fleshly nature. Just a subtle twisting of YHVH’s words to Eve were enough to fool her into eating “unclean” fruit. Satan is a one-trick pony. He uses our own fleshly inertia against us, and uses the opposite of “legalism” -- ”loophole-ism” to offer us a way to miss the blessings contained in childlike obedience to the Father. Paul's writing style, along with some translation issues, seem to offer loopholes when there are other clear explainations not far below the surface. We must not fall prey to Satan's lame, tired, and obvious trick.

When “good Christian folks” choose to temporarily fast for a predetermined time (a vegetarian “Daniel Fast” for example), they inevitably will give a proud testimony about how much closer they felt to The Father, or how they finally heard from The Father after a long drought. This is a wonderful and blessed thing. However, when “Torah Keeping” folks chose a PERMANENT LIFESTLYE of fasting, and choose the Bible’s own guidelines about what is acceptable for food, suddenly it is “legalism” that demands a defense! I have heard testimony after testimony of those who have changed to a 24/7 Biblical diet and have been blessed due to their obedience. Yeshua, who never disobeyed a single Torah command, invites us to follow Him on His walk.

Our body is supposed to be the Temple of the Holy Sprit. Can we really be putting dead pigs on His Holy Altar (i.e. eating bacon) and honestly say we are a loyal disciple at the same time? The gay rights movement proudly waives a rainbow flag almost as a dare to The Father. The rainbow is His sign to human beings that He will not flood the earth again for our disobedience to His commandments. In some ways isn’t the traditional “Easter Ham” a similar insult to the God we claim to honor and obey?

Fecal Matters...

I have searched high and low and have yet to find any teachings, “Christian” or “Messianic”, on the deep and important object lesson that is…going to the bathroom. Yes, I am going there. Pamela wanted me to post my thoughts more often, so…between the tasty recipes and helpful hints this blog is widely known for, I am about to broach a topic never preached from any pulpit anywhere at anytime. Feel free to skip to the next post, or at least pre-read this before rushing to print it and read it at the Shabbat table. Here I go.



The other day, I was listening to a “kind-of-Christian” talk radio show, where this subject came up as part of a humorous (O.K. it was hysterical, and no, I won’t link to it) commentary. During the discussion, the hosts said that the Bible had nothing to say on the subject of how and where to go potty, because the “Bible was too classy of a book for that sort of talk”. Oh, how I beg to differ. There are plenty of extremely graphic examples of prophetic words (YHVH’s words expressed through various prophets) that are really shocking (Isaiah 36:12 !), and meant to be so…using terms that would be described as potty language at best. Seriously, from most of our frames of mind, if Mary heard Yeshua say these things, we’d picture her having to wash his mouth out with soap—yet we have to acknowledge that that not only did Mary and Yeshua have to go potty themselves, but that the very natural act was designed into our fleshly bodies…and that YHVH said that “it was good.”

Here is commandment from the Torah on the subject…

“You shall have a place outside the camp, and you shall go out to it. Each of you must have a spade as part of your equipment. Whenever you relieve yourself, dig a hole with the spade and cover the excrement. The camp must be holy, for the LORD your God moves around in your camp to protect you and to defeat your enemies. He must not see any shameful thing among you, or he will turn away from you.” – Deuteronomy 23:12-14

Simple enough. The act of going potty is natural and good, but the byproduct is unholy, shameful, and unclean. It must be buried so the Father Himself doesn’t turn away in disgust. An argument can be made that conveniently bringing our toilets into our own homes, even with modern flushing technology, is not the same thing as walking outside, digging a hole, doing your business in rain or snow, not to mention broad daylight, and burring it yourself with a shovel. Just as humans have done all we can to insulate ourselves from dealing with or even seeing blood…a crucial element of life, we have similarly made this fundamental element of life so mundane that most of us (without various medical problems) don’t even think about it…let alone publicly blog about it.

This complicated biblical procedure seems to me to be an object lesson of the regular recognition and purging of our sins via repentance. Our sin’s are removed from us, and covered…not as a once-and-done thing, but as a part of a regular routine. As a child, in fact, we had to be trained to recognize this unique sensation, and quickly find a grown up to avoid disaster. Now that we are grown ups ourselves, we still feel that sensation--something must be done…sometimes soon, sometimes NOW. Sometimes still it’s too late, and we need to appeal to our Heavenly Father to clean us up, powder our butts, and send us back into the world. We all know some grown ups that are either “full of it”, or even “have a stinky” but do not have the skills or self-awareness to fix their issue. They live a life thinking that their own “stuff” doesn’t stink, and often nobody loves them enough to intervene and show them where the potty is. Or at least hand them a shovel as a hint.

Yeshua actually preached on this topic, but we often get distracted from His point because of the several other life lessons embedded in His language:

“And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” Mark 7:14-23

First we have to dismiss the idea that Yeshua’s point was that the dietary laws in The Torah are irrelevant. The line “thus he declared all foods clean” was actual an anonymous scribal notation in the margins of one version of this gospel, that eventually got embedded into the text by some other anonymous copyist. If you are new to this truth and think this is a conspiracy theory, read your own Bible’s notes about why that verse is either in parenthesis, italics, or both. That was far from Yeshua’s point, and far from mine. (Although it ironically shows that there is some man made excrement even in our Scriptures that must be processed and buried outside the camp.)

What started the Messiah’s commentary was the man-made tradition of washing hands before food was eaten. Yeshua was always mindful that His true disciples, then and now, would want to emulate His behavior, and was careful therefore not to endorse these traditions as being at the same level as the Torah commandments. He therefore did not wash his hands (an elaborate ritual) because apparently they were not physically dirty at the time. His parable then was saying that eating food with “ceremonially clean hands” would not stop the formerly tasty food from coming out stinky and nasty. The heart of man is like his stomach. Our hearts produce the nastiest, slinkiest, most detestable things. If we don’t take the time to relieve ourselves in private with The Father, it’s bound to build up and come out publically--either from our mouths (“from the overflow of our hearts the mouth speaks” Luke 6:45) or from the stench that our very lives will eventually produce.

Satan is known as “The Lord of the Flies”. What are flies attracted too? Yep, spiritual poo poo. Pamela and I took a course in “theophostics” years ago, which is a powerful method of getting to the deep source of the trouble in believer’s lives. Theophostics is a fancy way of saying “The light of God”. The idea is to NOT immediately cast out demons when encountered, but to briefly engage them (as Yeshua did) first to find out where the pile of stinky stuff is hidden that is attracting them in the first place. Demons don’t buzz around people who are filled with light, only those with poop hidden in the shadows. Hence Yeshua’s parable…“This is when an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, “I will return to the house I left.” When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. (Luke 11:24-26) Casting out demons, even cleaning out the obvious poop, will not itself cause the flies to stay away for good.
Eventually that house must be filled with truth (Torah) so that more poop will not accumulate.

The entire sacrificial system and tabernacle that YHVH gave to Moses at Mt. Sinai was sort of a spiritual port-a-potty. Now I know I crossed a line with many of you. Seriously though, The Creator of our bodies, souls and spirits knows that we will need to get this spiritual excrement out of our lives. One could argue that this system was temporary and meant simply as a dramatic object lesson. Eventually all of this “covering” of our forefather’s sins, just created a giant, hidden pile of sin that needed to be “buried outside the camp.” Something more permanent was desperately needed as the “Levitical temps” hired to deal with this human need were not authorized to handle that level of collective clean up.

I personally lived out this object lesson last season during Sukkot. I had just purchased a Coleman camping potty, designed for a person or two…complete with a water reservoir for flushing, and a containment tank to eventually dump. We put this into a small private tent in a common area, and let a few select folks know that we had it, as our sites were pretty far from the public bathrooms. We’ll-- wouldn’t you know it, but those public bathrooms tanks filled up that week. A crew had to come in and excavate, leaving the facilities closed. For a time, my little set up was suddenly busy with activity. Before I knew it, the tank was full, and it was up to little old me to clean it out. For the record, I identify with Ephriam not Levi, but I guess in the end we are all called to be priests. This tank was HEAVY, and sloshy, and even though I was trying to be discrete, everybody I ran into on my mission to dump this thing suddenly wanted to strike up a conversation. Eventually the talk would lead to asking, “hey, what are you holding there?” which generally speaking wrapped up the chit chat pretty quickly.

Anyway, collecting and dumping my own stuff is one thing; collecting and dumping my own tribe’s stuff is doable; dumping the whole CAMP’S stuff is really, really, really, gross. I am tempted to describe it all in detail, with my point being to actually make you gag. Believe me, I think I could do it with just a few choice words. But, I’ll leave that to your own imagination. My mind, while in the confined bathroom stall dumping out this mess, went to our Messiah, as the thought of Him bearing all of mankind’s spiritual excrement. It is amazing how living out these object lessons brings us closer to the mind and heart of Messiah. At that moment, I could identify with Him in a way I never had before. Of course, He took it further--He didn’t just bear our sins…He became our sins! He Himself, suddenly stinky with our wretched refuse, was then cut off from The Father. And then, as the Torah commands, He was buried outside the camp. And yes, the Father did what the Levites could never do… He cleaned off His Son, and allowed Him to come out white as snow and smelling like a rose.

So, next time you go into your private place to do your private thing, remember that indeed the Scriptures do have much to say on this subject. Take the Messiah’s advice, “Everything that is secret will be brought out into the open. Everything that is hidden will be uncovered.” (Luke 12:2) Remember, that we are called to “be Holy like He is Holy”, and that when we walk out of our private place, we too smell like a rose in the nose of our Heavenly Father.

Also, next time you hear someone say "Holy ****", you now have an excuse to repeat this sermonette.

Trivia: The Rabbinic notion of “A Sabbath day’s journey” was originally the estimated distance from the door of the Tabernacle to the nearest area “outside the camp”. Thus, the shortest allowable distance one could walk on Shabbat, specifically to relieve themselves, without doing “unnecessary work.” This concept is fully Jewish tradition and has no actual scriptural basis.

My Blogging Goal for 2011

My Blogging goal for 2011 is to continue blogging (and administrating at Messianic Keepers at Home) and staying connected with people online without sacrificing the attention and connection that my husband and children need from me.

I absolutely love blogging. I know I am not the best blogger, there are so many ladies out there who are way more talented than I am. (Not to mention they type, spell and edit things way better than me!) That is not it at all. I love the friends I have made and the opportunity to help people in small ways. The "administrator" in me loves the keyboard and the organization and the "projects" and the ideas always racing through my head. The creative side of me loves to express myself and the pastoral side of me LOVES working together with the amazing women of Yah whom I have been so blessed to know in these last couple of years online and in person! It really has been rich, and I pray it does not end, rather that our relationships grow and deepen! However, my passion for things, can easily get the best of me. I go full speed ahead with little regard of my own limitations, but most importantly (and shamefully) with little regard for the limitations of those whom I love, whom live with me and who depend on me. I am the only wife and mommy (I pray) they will ever have! That job is one no one else can do...and it is so very important that it is done well and to the glory of YHVH, because this is HIS FAMILY that I have been given! In the past year, I have had many afternoons or mornings, when my precious wee ones have had to compete for their momma's attention and my husband has also been patient a few times more than he should while I click away to my hearts content! For this, the Ruach Ha Kodesh (Holy Spirit) has grieved my spirit and and convicted me. I do believe my family is my first ministry, and second love after YHVH, yet (although they have never said so) sometimes I fear that it may not seem like it with my mind "online". So I thought this little confession and reminder in my side bar this year - would help me to keep my priorities on target - all through the seasons, as I purpose myself to limit my time on the computer and see to it no child (or husband) is left feeling they have to compete for momma's mind or heart. To whom much is given much is expected (Luke 12:48) and I am a woman who is richly blessed by my husband and children and who needs to regularly submit her "ideas and projects and aspirations" as a lesser priority than that of serving my family. I am also richly blessed with friends, and I know that you understand our call. I just needed to let it flow from my heart to my hands and let it be a warning to my own flesh staring at me on the side bar of my blog- lest I be tempted to slip back into "rearranging" the proper order of things again. :-)

In Humble Adoration,

Assessing Our Stuff (Spiritual Organization)

The first step of organization is assessing our stuff. If we fail to do this, than we will not get healthy and proper handle on managing it. Here are some principles that The Father has trained me in as He has honed my heart over the years to be a good steward of the things that He has given us... The things of which He has put us in charge.

5 Ways to Misery

For those who have ears....

The Holy Spirit and His Unmoveable Torah versus The Flesh

I sooooo want to "preach" on this object lesson....but if this one doesn't speak for itself---you just don't get it.

Ben

Renewing of our minds...

Before watching the amazing video below, consider the only weapon that Satan has. He cannot invent anything, he has NO TRUTHS of his own. He as no powers to create, only to distort, twist, and deceive. What lies do we still believe so strongly that we believe them to be true? Do we believe that we are too unlovable to be adopted by the King? Do we believe we are too sinful to be redeemed? Has someone spoken a lie into our lives, even in our childhood, that we have made a part of who we are? We all need to take every thought captive, compare those thoughts to the Torah, and burn those lies (cast out those demons) that do not mirror YHVH's eternal truths.

This video is from a TV series called The Baby Human. It's an amazing object lesson showing how our own minds and emotions (our souls) can buy into falsehoods without the guidance of His Word and His Spirit. His Spirit of truth must be braided with ours, which then informs our souls of the Truth, which then in turn directs our flesh in it's behaviour. I pray that others who see our outward behavior see Truth manifested, and don't see some version of what this video presents.

Somehow I think the secular makers of this TV series would phrase that differently...

Ben

Shocking News about Shiloh

Shiloh is the Beagle that found us. His name is of Hebrew origin which means "the sent one". He showed up one day and never left; He chose us. He was a dog in his first year when he arrived, it has been about 5 months since he first arrived. We have seen him mature in the few months he has been with us. He had tell tale signs of being abused. He cowered and was very timid when you approached him....but you could tell he was a good dog, so we went around to the neighbors to be sure he didn't belong to someone, took him to the vet, cleaned him up, named him, and called him our own. With all the events going on at the homestead, we did not get to train him right away, so we kept him as an outside dog. It was all he has ever known, so he seemed to be really content with that. He and Dot (our Boston Terrier) are the best of play pals (after they worked out their initial "getting to know you's"). We bring him onto the porch to sleep at night...he really likes that. We let him visit indoors sometimes too. We have started some training and he is really coming along. He knows how to sit, and drop things that he shouldn't be chewing, he heels and is working on "stay". His "wildness" is settling down, his confidence and security is now good (he's not so skittish). He's part of the family. We will continue to train him so we can take him places and let him in the house in the Winter.

Besides jumping up on people for attention, which is also getting better; he has one really bad habit- Chasing cars! Thankfully we live on a dead-end country road, but there are three houses at the end of the road which bring traffic. We have a daily mail man, and weekly garbage truck, and occasional tourists, who seem to be driving the back roads to spot the Amish. We don't have a lot of traffic..but he will chase EVERY car that comes by. He acts like he is protecting the homestead. In a way its kind of cute....but NOT REALLY! He has gotten more brazen, not only chasing after cars, but he meets them right as they get in front of the house and runs IN FRONT of their front tires as he runs sideways, barking at them!! When he started this...our comments of "we've got to do something about this", turned to "order a shock collar NOW, because this dogs days are numbered!"

He is such a pleasant mild mannered dog, I really hated to put the zapper on him! However, we did last week. We had to watch the road and respond to cars passing, it wasn't convenient! But it was worth it with 2 very low power zaps (3 1/2 on a scale of 10) He stopped chasing cars completely! There is also a "beeper" on the color. It is just a little beeping alarm which you control by the push of a button on a remote control (just like the zap, but noise instead.) After the first 2 zaps, we started beeping him if he looked liked he was "revving up" for the chase, with a voice command of "leave it". That was enough to stop him. We are so thankful that he has responded so quickly to the training! We are watching him closely to be sure that he doesn't pick up his old habit again...if he does, we will do a little reminder training. We were willing to stick to this much longer than it actually took...so we are very pleased at his quick willingness to obey.

My step-dad used to say "no pain no gain". This was a great example of that. I know it may not be politically correct to use a zap collar, but I believe it saved Shiloh's life! His instincts to chase that car where far stronger than his desire to obey our voice commands. We had to increase the level of discipline in this matter, for his own sake. He would not respond to lighter forms of teaching. Because we love him and as his "masters" we are responsible for his well being. What a blessing this "hard" training has been! It has also allowed him the freedom to be the king of his farm - hunting and frolicking about as he pleases, without having to be chained or caged for his safety. He plays freely with kids and Dot, and follows us as we work outside. He sits on our porch like a proud pup waiting for us to come home when we go away. Our little protector and will still bark and give passers by "the look", so they know this is HIS family. But now, he doesn't compromise his own well being in the process.

It is just like YHVH/Yahshua teaches us through His precepts...If we can discipline ourselves to live according to the Master's rules...we have great freedoms to explore and be who we were made to be! Some people may call this sort of training bondage or inhumane because they believe life is to be lived without any "restrictions", and pain is to be avoided at all costs. However, we understand His rules and Him to actually be a loving master who is guiding and protecting us from our own instincts to run head first into self destruction!