Written by Michael Jones
In ancient times, the bodies of newborn babies were rubbed down with salt to ward off any infection they could have easily gotten. The salt made the skin of their bodies smooth. How does salt benefit our spiritual man? The answer is the action of prayer. Just like babies, we are made clean through ceremonial washing and the applying of salt onto our skin. As His sheep, our Creator daily cleanses us with the spiritual salt to preserve us for the glory of His kingdom.
God will not answer our prayers if we have an evil desire to pray selfishly. Why won’t they be answered, you may ask? The main factor of God not answering prayer is the simple fact that God wants the very best for us. This is why we should repent of every sin we have committed when we pray. We must prepare our spirit and heart to commune with Jesus Christ, our Father. Therefore, the importance of prayer cannot be stressed enough. Our prayer must be lined up with the Word for the salt to remain within us. Matthew teaches us a crucial lesson about the importance of retaining our spiritual salt. Matthew 5:13 states, “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.”
Let us strive in our prayer life to make them (our prayers) beneficial to God, so they may be our finest choice of burnt offering. Let us wait upon Him patiently to answer our prayers. He has graciously sprinkled salt into our lives. Therefore, when we pray, let our prayers be sprinkled with salt and not rashness. Otherwise, if we pray empty prayers, the spiritual salt that covers our lives will cease. Then, we can actually get to the point in our walk with Christ Jesus that our desire to seek Him will be of no priority.
Our first desire should be to seek out the “true love” in our prayer life, which should be God the Father. Our first choice offering is being open and honest with our Father in heaven. When we come to a point in our lives when we are not honest with God, we sometimes lie to ourselves and pretend not to hide things from God. We may be good at hiding and holding things back from humankind, but, no matter what the difficulty is in our personal lives, we need to give it all to Him so we do not shortchange ourselves spiritually. It will take us longer to approach a mature level in our spiritual lives, and the pleasant aroma that God desires in us will erode if we keep up the spiritual immaturity.
Jehovah wants us to become spiritually smooth in our prayer life. As we become spiritually smooth (with no sins to bind us), our prayer life will become pleasing to Him. Jesus Christ wants to chip off the things in our lives that have become idols to us. These idols prevent us from getting close to Him and detour us from the Scriptures. The salt that God sprinkles within us is the only way we can be truly set free and be refined in the furnace.
Romans 8:5 states, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.”
The Scriptures make the fact transparent that we cannot live in the flesh and still try to do the things of God. We cannot, as believers in Christ, have a divided heart. Either our prayer life will be autonomous, or it is going to remain God-centered. He should be the center of our lives. At the same time, we should remain pure in heart and soul, mind and body, and spirit. Sin has the physicality effect in our bodies, and we are born into it. It damages us relationally in our level of maturity with Christ, and God’s word teaches us that our sin makes us unholy and unfit for Him.
Genesis 4:7 says, “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.” As Christians, we need to resist sin with the armor of God that He has given us and all that we are spiritually. An example of this is the woman mentioned in Matthew 9:20. She had earnestly prayed for 12 years to be healed of hemorrhages. God was very faithful and merciful to heal her, answering her long-awaited prayer. We can learn so much from this woman spiritually. She did not waver, but laid down her body as a sacrifice. This was done not in a literal fashion, but in a spiritual fashion. She sacrificed her body through prayer. The woman pushed her way through a crowd to see Jesus the Christ and to hear Him speak and to be healed by Him. Finally, her prayers were answered through the faithfulness and mercy of Jesus Christ. As she touched the edges of His tzitzit (fringes), she became the sweet aroma of sacrifice that is pleasing to God.
You see that the armor of God protects every area of our body. When a person went into battle in the ancient days, they would dress in armor gear that would protect every inch of their body. The ancient Scripture protects every spiritual area in us. In Ephesians 6:13, Paul wrote, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.” Jehovah has given us a double thickness in our spiritual armor. He has given us the armor of God, which is His Word, and the salt that He sprinkles over our lives is to protect and to preserve the spiritual man. While we continue to fight our spiritual battles, there is one more point I would like to make. It is that we are protected by His salt covenant and by His promises that are found in His Word.
SALT COVENANT –Part 2
Written by Michael Jones
As believers, we should realize the spiritual error when we do not truly follow the Messiah with our whole heart. In turn, it will affect the salt that we have in our spiritual man, and our sin will slowly erode the spiritual salt we already have.
In unity, Satan and his Demons (fallen angels) are trying to destroy God’s children who have a personal relationship with our Creator. The evil one hates the very fact that we worship Jesus Christ, and give glory unto Him, and Satan is very jealous of God’s splendor. Lucifer wishes our very worship were directed to him. John 10:10 says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” Jesus told us through His word that He has given us authority over the Demonic realm. If Jesus has given us this type of authority then we should realize this is part of the “armor of God” Paul speaks about.
Jehovah will not leave us without His authority for us to exercise and use. His armor will never leave us wanting and spiritually naked. He is faithful enough to keep us equipped with His Word. By studying and praying each day we are clothed with the armor of God. With it, comes His wisdom and knowledge of how the enemy operates. In turn, it also shows us how God operates.
As long as we are in communion with Jesus Christ, the prayers we pray are a salt offering, which is a sweet aroma for God. Our every word, our every thought, which comes from the heart, is a salt sacrifice that we should give to Jesus our Lord when praying.
As you see, our Creator will preserve our spiritual nature through the act of salt. We draw nearer to Him because of the refining process that works within us. Through our prayers, our sins are blended together with the salt of God. What does this mean to us as Christians? In time, the salt He graciously sprinkles over us will begin to purify us. Before we go further, it is important for us to know the facts about “living in sin” and being “born into sin.” There is a clear distinction between the two. When a person defies God and purposely lives in his or her sin, it is known as habitual sin. Thus, they are “living in sin.” A person may be bound by their sin and cannot be set free from it until they give it over to the Creator’s hand. Adversely, everyone here on earth is “born into sin.” As Christians, we may not have a physical bondage with a certain sin. However, the fact is that we were born into sin. We are in need of Jesus’ sacrificial blood that He once shed on the tree in order for us to have forgiveness of sin.
When we are getting our lives back in order with Jesus Christ, the spiritual salt starts immediate healing in our spiritual man. We begin to shift from the worldly system of Satan, and we begin to transition our lives into the hands of Jesus. Through time, our sin will not have the power over our flesh. The salt pulverizes our sin so our prayer life can be free from any restraint.
If we continue to stray from Him, as Cain did, with self-centered prayers and impure motives, we should be prepared that God will not honor our prayers. Cain had given God a less-than-worthy offering to Him and he purposely short-changed Him of the offering by not giving his best to his God.
As believers, we should realize the spiritual error when we do not truly follow the Messiah with our whole heart. In turn, it will affect the salt that we have in our spiritual man, and our sin will slowly erode the spiritual salt we already have.
In unity, Satan and his Demons (fallen angels) are trying to destroy God’s children who have a personal relationship with our Creator. The evil one hates the very fact that we worship Jesus Christ, and give glory unto Him, and Satan is very jealous of God’s splendor. Lucifer wishes our very worship were directed to him. John 10:10 says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” Jesus told us through His word that He has given us authority over the Demonic realm. If Jesus has given us this type of authority then we should realize this is part of the “armor of God” Paul speaks about.
Jehovah will not leave us without His authority for us to exercise and use. His armor will never leave us wanting and spiritually naked. He is faithful enough to keep us equipped with His Word. By studying and praying each day we are clothed with the armor of God. With it, comes His wisdom and knowledge of how the enemy operates. In turn, it also shows us how God operates.
As long as we are in communion with Jesus Christ, the prayers we pray are a salt offering, which is a sweet aroma for God. Our every word, our every thought, which comes from the heart, is a salt sacrifice that we should give to Jesus our Lord when praying.
As you see, our Creator will preserve our spiritual nature through the act of salt. We draw nearer to Him because of the refining process that works within us. Through our prayers, our sins are blended together with the salt of God. What does this mean to us as Christians? In time, the salt He graciously sprinkles over us will begin to purify us. Before we go further, it is important for us to know the facts about “living in sin” and being “born into sin.” There is a clear distinction between the two. When a person defies God and purposely lives in his or her sin, it is known as habitual sin. Thus, they are “living in sin.” A person may be bound by their sin and cannot be set free from it until they give it over to the Creator’s hand. Adversely, everyone here on earth is “born into sin.” As Christians, we may not have a physical bondage with a certain sin. However, the fact is that we were born into sin. We are in need of Jesus’ sacrificial blood that He once shed on the tree in order for us to have forgiveness of sin.
When we are getting our lives back in order with Jesus Christ, the spiritual salt starts immediate healing in our spiritual man. We begin to shift from the worldly system of Satan, and we begin to transition our lives into the hands of Jesus. Through time, our sin will not have the power over our flesh. The salt pulverizes our sin so our prayer life can be free from any restraint.
If we continue to stray from Him, as Cain did, with self-centered prayers and impure motives, we should be prepared that God will not honor our prayers. Cain had given God a less-than-worthy offering to Him and he purposely short-changed Him of the offering by not giving his best to his God.
SALT COVENANT – Part 1
Written By Michael Jones
In the Grecian world, about the fourth century, the word “church” was understood as an “assembly.” Jesus has called the Christians and Messianic Jews. He has called us out of the secular world. Adonai has called us out from this world and into His glory. He calls for us to be kept separate from the worldly systems, which belong to Satan. In John 17:14-18, Jesus said, “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.”
From these Scriptures above, God has mandated us to continually remain apart from the world so we can be that righteous offering that is pleasing unto Him. God knows how destructive it would be if His believers were to become part of the secular world. He knows we would eventually become hardened under our sin, and in this situation, we would not hear His voice when He calls for us.
Let’s go to the story of Job. Job was a righteous man and a patriarch. As a family man, he served in his household as a priest. Everyday he would pray and consecrate his children every morning. While praying for his children, a spiritual application was presented here.
There is spiritual salt that comes from God when we pray. As in Job’s case, this salt helped him keep in tune when God spoke to him. It certainly preserved his spiritual state. Additionally, when we keep serving Jehovah and the more we pray to Him, the more the spiritual salt keeps us Holy and keeps us apart from the profane.
In the Bible, you will not find any formulas in how to pray, nor are there any shortcuts in prayer. There aren’t even any rituals we need to assimilate. We can pray standing, kneeling, or prostrate on the ground. We can pray in a bowed position, facing north, south, east, or west.
Let us remember to keep our prayers fruitful so it can bear many fruits in us. If we have prayers that we pray which are empty and selfish, our prayers will lose the salt that will preserve us spiritually between ourselves and God.
As believers, how do we retain the spiritual salt, which will help us? The answer can be found in Galatians 5:16-17. “Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want.”
When we desire to do the things of Jesus Christ and to “walk in the spirit,” then we will not be praying or acting out of His will selfishly (for our own benefit and our own autonomous means). We should continually seek the word of God, and then we will know His purpose for our lives. We need to know the Messiah our Redeemer on a more personal and spiritual level.
We have a moral duty to keep the spiritual salt maintained in our lives. How do we do this? By cultivating our spiritual life everyday through prayer and reading the Word of God. Thus, our prayers will be a sweet aroma, pleasing unto Him.
In the Grecian world, about the fourth century, the word “church” was understood as an “assembly.” Jesus has called the Christians and Messianic Jews. He has called us out of the secular world. Adonai has called us out from this world and into His glory. He calls for us to be kept separate from the worldly systems, which belong to Satan. In John 17:14-18, Jesus said, “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.”
From these Scriptures above, God has mandated us to continually remain apart from the world so we can be that righteous offering that is pleasing unto Him. God knows how destructive it would be if His believers were to become part of the secular world. He knows we would eventually become hardened under our sin, and in this situation, we would not hear His voice when He calls for us.
Let’s go to the story of Job. Job was a righteous man and a patriarch. As a family man, he served in his household as a priest. Everyday he would pray and consecrate his children every morning. While praying for his children, a spiritual application was presented here.
There is spiritual salt that comes from God when we pray. As in Job’s case, this salt helped him keep in tune when God spoke to him. It certainly preserved his spiritual state. Additionally, when we keep serving Jehovah and the more we pray to Him, the more the spiritual salt keeps us Holy and keeps us apart from the profane.
In the Bible, you will not find any formulas in how to pray, nor are there any shortcuts in prayer. There aren’t even any rituals we need to assimilate. We can pray standing, kneeling, or prostrate on the ground. We can pray in a bowed position, facing north, south, east, or west.
Let us remember to keep our prayers fruitful so it can bear many fruits in us. If we have prayers that we pray which are empty and selfish, our prayers will lose the salt that will preserve us spiritually between ourselves and God.
As believers, how do we retain the spiritual salt, which will help us? The answer can be found in Galatians 5:16-17. “Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want.”
When we desire to do the things of Jesus Christ and to “walk in the spirit,” then we will not be praying or acting out of His will selfishly (for our own benefit and our own autonomous means). We should continually seek the word of God, and then we will know His purpose for our lives. We need to know the Messiah our Redeemer on a more personal and spiritual level.
We have a moral duty to keep the spiritual salt maintained in our lives. How do we do this? By cultivating our spiritual life everyday through prayer and reading the Word of God. Thus, our prayers will be a sweet aroma, pleasing unto Him.
The Progressions of God’s Dwelling in Man
Written by Michael Jones
In Genesis 2:7, we have a firm existential foundation for our first parents, in which Elohim formed man from the dust of the ground. On that special day which we read further on into Genesis, He took the dirt from the ground and formed Adam, and afterward, Jehovah formed the Spirit of man by breathing into his nostrils. Then what took place was more than an act of God, but a miracle of God. He had given to man, what is called the Ruach (Hebrew for spirit). He blew into the man’s nostrils and this word Ruach is Hebrew for Spirit. Elohim wanted His creation to be not only distinct from the animal world, but also separated from it. Another view Jehovah gave evidence to us that we are separated from the animal kingdom was the following. The act of the creation of the animal world was however different. He created the animals to possess an actual living soul dwelling inside of them; however, there is no such thing as a spirit residing inside of them. The soul of an animal is their entire characteristic, which is what we would call their make-up for their emotions. You will see that when God created man and blew into the man’s nostrils He gave the man a part of His spirit. Jehovah also gave our first parents a soul with the spirit. Moreover, this soul is the make-up for all human emotions. Their spirit that God gave the man and woman is a compartment for them and for us to commune with our creator and to worship Him.
Now since Lucifer had already fallen from his divine authority and his divine position, only one authority was transferred to Adam (Man-Ish) and Eve (Woman-Ishah). What do I mean about divine authority being transferred to our first parents? Satan at one time had a priestly function of being in charge of the worship music on earth. God created the Devil for music. In Ezekiel 28:13, “The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created.” In his book, The Invisible War, Donald Grey Barnhouse suggests Satan the cherub angel had a priestly function. “The wings of a cherub, you might recall, were outstretched on the top of the ark of the covenant. Confirming this interpretation is the expression ‘his sanctuaries,’ apparently a reference to worship (v.18).” This also points to the fact that Lucifer directed and orchestrated the worship of other angels. The cherub angel, Satan, received the worship of other angels underneath him and gave all the praise and worship to God in the third heavens. Now, God has given Adam and Eve, the authority of worship, since it was, transferred to our first parents because of Satan’s rebellion. Satan has however lost his divine position of ever being a worship leader ever again in God’s kingdom. This now explains the deceiver’s action of jealousy toward Adam and Eve. This is why Satan the cherub angel, lied both to Adam and Eve. The Serpents mind said if only I (serpent) can convince these new people to eat of the tree, The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad. Then I (serpent) cannot only ruin their relationship with the Creator, so then they can follow my ways, then God cannot dwell inside of them anymore, and their closeness with God would be damaged.
The Devil knew about this. That is why the deceiver lied to Eve and to Adam. Lucifer was quite successful. Here is the story that Moses writes down in Genesis 3:1-7, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden?’ The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the Garden; but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’ But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.”
Before I explain in further detail, here is some important information to know. The Bible is not clear on how long Adam and Eve dwelled in the Garden of Eden before their fall. However, the Book of Jubilees has given us some clue of how long they resided in Paradise. Depending on how accurate the Book of Jubilees is, it records that Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden for seven years during the first week of the first jubilee. In the Garden of Eden (Gan-Eden), sin got a foothold on Adam and Eve, and God no longer dwelled “inside” of them. Instead, God dwelled “with” them. God knew in advance that their fall from grace would happen, but most importantly, Elohim still wanted to have fellowship with them and with humanity. After they had eaten of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze. The man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. The Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” It is tragic that our first parents had lost the Garden of Eden and were expelled from that land because of their sins. It is tragic because they slowly pulled away from their relationship with God. The Lord had already known that they were to fall. Why did God stop dwelling “in” our first parents? He now had to dwell outside of them because of their evil intentions and ways. So the Lord decides to test them next. With His words of love, what does God say in response to their sin? “But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, ‘Where are you’?” His response to Adam was incredible. It was not as if God did not know where Adam was. He did know! However, God was waiting for a response from Adam. Perhaps He was waiting to hear, “I still love you, My Adonai, and I still need you in my life.” Because God still yearned to commune with His creation, Adam and Eve, Elohim had constructed for man an eternal plan and a place to dwell in next.
As we progress further into God’s master plan, He still has a very important message to tell us. When YWHW commanded Moses and Aaron to build the tabernacle, there had to be certain measurements and a particular way of building the tabernacle for the Lord. For God says to them in Exodus 25:9: “In accordance with all that I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.” Therefore, the Lord God still had a burning desire in His heart and spirit to dwell with the people of Israel, for they had been in the desert for quite some time and would be for approximately forty years. During those trying years for the people of Israel, their God still wanted to be with them. He says in Exodus 25:8, “And have them make me a sanctuary, so that I may dwell among them.” Tabernacle means place of dwelling or sanctuary. Ever since the fall of Adam and Eve, the separation of sin between man and the Lord was great. He could no longer live inside of man. Therefore, God wanted a place of worship (a tabernacle) to dwell and commune with man.
It was Aaron and his sons who served as priests and high priests in the tabernacle, during the time of the forty years of wandering in the wilderness. In Exodus 40:11-15, God spoke to Moses and said, “Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting, and shall wash them with water, and put on Aaron the sacred vestments and you shall anoint him and consecrate him, so that he may serve me as priest. You shall bring his sons also and put tunics on them, and anoint them, as you anointed their father that they may serve me as priest: and their anointing shall admit them to a perpetual priesthood throughout all generations to come.”
The tabernacle consisted of two rooms. A beautiful veil separated each room. The first room was called the “Holy Place.” That is where the golden lampstand, the altar of incense, and the table of showbread were located. The second room was called the “Most Holy Place.” The Ark of the Covenant was stationed there. It was only the high priest that could go into the Most Holy Place (Holy of Holies). That happened once a year on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). If you remember, Moses entered the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord. He heard the voice speaking to him from the mercy seat, located between the two cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant. Another verse which speaks of God communing with man is Leviticus 16:2. “The Lord said to Moses: Tell your brother Aaron not to come just at any time into the sanctuary inside the curtain before the mercy seat that is upon the ark, or he will die for I appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.”
The physical presence of YHWH, would meet Moses, as well as the High Priest, between the two cherubim on the mercy seat. The book of Numbers 7:89 says: When Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, he would hear the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the Ark of the Covenant from between the two cherubim; thus it spoke to him. Another instance when God would speak to Moses, yet he could not enter into the “Tent of Meeting” is in Exodus 40:34-38, Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled upon it and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Whenever the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out on each stage of their journey; but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, before the eyes of all the house of Israel at each stage of their journey.
Is this not awesome, can you imagine experiencing something like this in the Old and New Testament periods. How God yearns for them and for their relationship with their Creator, you see God loves us so much and desires us that we should want Him in our lives. There is a parallel description found in Matthew 23:37, ‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! ‘How often have I desired together your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.’ This is how strong God’s connection with us is, that He “desires us” No matter what our current situation we are in, even in our rebellion, God will still speak to us and will keep speaking to us until He gets through to us the importance of following Him. Because only through Elohim our Creator, will we find true rest and peace amongst turmoil in this world or in our daily life, that is why our Creator keeps on desiring us, since only through Him do we have contentment when He speaks to us in our situation or turmoil.
Next, an important place where God spoke to the children of Israel was inside Solomon’s temple. The story starts in 2 Samuel chapter 7:2 with King David. He says, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.” The Lord God spoke with King David in 1 Chronicles 22:8. In that verse, He says to David, “You have shed much blood and have waged great wars; you shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood in my sight on the earth.” Adonai had a better idea. Instead of using David, He decided to use his son, Solomon. Then further, in 1 Chronicles 22:6, David called for his son Solomon and charged him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel. Through many wars, which King David fought in, it has made him disqualified in building a Temple for their God. David said to his son, “My son, I had planned to build a house to the name of the Lord my God. But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, I have shed too much blood.”
The shepherd and king had reigned over all of Israel for 40 years- 7 years in Hebron, and 33 years in Jerusalem. Before David’s death, they anointed Solomon as the Lord’s prince. In Chronicles 3:2, King Solomon began building the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on top of Mount Moriah, (where the current Temple Mount presently stands). The Lord had always spoken between the two cherubim on the mercy seat, and He spoke to King Solomon and the people in various ways. After the temple was built, “the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.” In chapter 6 verse 1, Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he would reside in thick darkness.” Another reference is in chapter 7 of 2 Chronicles. After King Solomon had ended his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. The priests could not enter because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house. When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground. They worshipped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “For he is good for his steadfast love endures forever.”
These progressions of God continuing with humanity really are remarkable. Just like King Solomon praying and the Shekinah Glory of God manifesting itself in the temple, the Lord God can answer our prayers. However, it will not be in the same manner as Solomon. God can still answer our prayers through various means, though they will possibly be through dreams and visions or supernatural acts in our life. Elohim can also answer prayers that are big or small.
Another important aspect to all of this is when you first enter into “The Holy Place.” Standing next to the high priest is the “Altar of Incense.” You are probably wondering what The Altar of Incense is, and what its purpose is. “It is located in front of the curtain that is above the Ark of the Covenant, in front of the Mercy Seat that is over the covenant, where I will meet with you.” The priest daily and nightly kept The Altar of Incense, by going and placing divinely made incense on top of the altar. In addition, this specially made incense would make the smoke go straight up, for it was a sweet aroma made for God alone. The smoke rising up out of the incense would symbolize the prayers going up to God. This is why God made a separation of what is holy and what is profane. When someone was profane with what was holy, they were separated from their tribe and cast out permanently. This is why Exodus 30:9 clearly mentions: “You shall not offer unholy incense on it, or a burnt offering or a grain offering, and you shall not pour a drink offering on it.”
As the high priest offered incense, the smoke went straight up. Similarly, a person’s prayer goes straight up to God the father. In the book of Psalms chapter 141:2 David says, “Let my prayer be counted as incense before you and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.” In Addition, in the New Testament, John writes in chapter 5 of Revelation verse 8, “When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.”
Remember what God said in Exodus 25:22. “There I will meet with you and from above the mercy seat.” It was a personal experience for Moses. He met with God face to face. Numbers 12:8 says, “With him I speak face to face clearly, not in riddles; and he beholds the form of the Lord.” When Jehovah speaks to us like He did with Moses, He will not reveal Himself physically to us, as He did with Moses. That is until Christ comes to bring us home or when He comes entering the Eastern Gate in Jerusalem. Our Creator will speak to us firmly but also lovingly about what we have been praying about. God reveals Himself to us through nature, prayer, praise and worship, and even through reading the Bible. For Him to act according to His will and to communicate to His children is an incredible thing to witness in our personal lives. This is called true love; the love He has for His children. Our Lord and Creator said that our bodies are a temple, and Paul agrees with God and says in 1 Corinthians 6:19, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?” This is why the Messiah stressed so much that we should take care of our bodies and why we should not mark our bodies, such as tattoos. Jesus Christ even gave us guidelines about not drinking blood or eating anything that could harm us. In addition, in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, Paul wrote down, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person.” I believe a good comparison can be found in Matthew 21:12, 13, “Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. He said to them, ‘It is written My house shall be called a house of prayer but you are making it a den of robbers.”
What it has to do with a man’s body is simple. God’s dwelling place was the temple and the people who were selling the doves inside the temple were defiling God’s sanctuary; hence, they were defiling the sanctity of God’s holy presence or the Shekinah Glory. In a way, the temple was a resemblance of the flesh of God while He resided over the Mercy Seat between the two cherubim. God’s temple is holy and you are that temple. That is why Jehovah showed us the difference between what is holy and what is profane so we do not defile ourselves. In Ezekiel, it explains in chapter 44:23, “They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.” This is why God gave all who follow Him a command. His commands are for our benefit and safety from things that are sinful. This is why it is so pertinent to follow our Shepherd, and to hear Him and follow Him wherever He may take us and whatever He may say to us. Darkness can have no fellowship with the light and in 2 Corinthians chapter 7:1, Paul mentions this important factor that ties all of this together. “Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and of spirit, making holiness perfect in the fear of God.” The Bible says, “Be holy as I am Holy.” Those words that came from His mouth should echo in our spirits. If we have become defiled from any type of sin, we are no longer holy but have become profane and have become spiritually and physically soiled by our sins.
We need to repent of our wickedness and ask God to forgive us and purify us through His Blood; and of course, we need to do this with a true heart when we confess our unrighteousness to our righteous Savior. Since we are not our own, the Messiah had to die on the cross because of our unrighteousness. Jesus Christ’s blood atonement that He shed for our sins made it possible for Him to live inside of us. In addition, when we had accepted His salvation, our sins were totally covered, and we were made righteous before our Lord, Jesus Christ. So let us remember what Paul said in Hebrews 12:1, “Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us looking to Jesus.”
In Genesis 2:7, we have a firm existential foundation for our first parents, in which Elohim formed man from the dust of the ground. On that special day which we read further on into Genesis, He took the dirt from the ground and formed Adam, and afterward, Jehovah formed the Spirit of man by breathing into his nostrils. Then what took place was more than an act of God, but a miracle of God. He had given to man, what is called the Ruach (Hebrew for spirit). He blew into the man’s nostrils and this word Ruach is Hebrew for Spirit. Elohim wanted His creation to be not only distinct from the animal world, but also separated from it. Another view Jehovah gave evidence to us that we are separated from the animal kingdom was the following. The act of the creation of the animal world was however different. He created the animals to possess an actual living soul dwelling inside of them; however, there is no such thing as a spirit residing inside of them. The soul of an animal is their entire characteristic, which is what we would call their make-up for their emotions. You will see that when God created man and blew into the man’s nostrils He gave the man a part of His spirit. Jehovah also gave our first parents a soul with the spirit. Moreover, this soul is the make-up for all human emotions. Their spirit that God gave the man and woman is a compartment for them and for us to commune with our creator and to worship Him.
Now since Lucifer had already fallen from his divine authority and his divine position, only one authority was transferred to Adam (Man-Ish) and Eve (Woman-Ishah). What do I mean about divine authority being transferred to our first parents? Satan at one time had a priestly function of being in charge of the worship music on earth. God created the Devil for music. In Ezekiel 28:13, “The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created.” In his book, The Invisible War, Donald Grey Barnhouse suggests Satan the cherub angel had a priestly function. “The wings of a cherub, you might recall, were outstretched on the top of the ark of the covenant. Confirming this interpretation is the expression ‘his sanctuaries,’ apparently a reference to worship (v.18).” This also points to the fact that Lucifer directed and orchestrated the worship of other angels. The cherub angel, Satan, received the worship of other angels underneath him and gave all the praise and worship to God in the third heavens. Now, God has given Adam and Eve, the authority of worship, since it was, transferred to our first parents because of Satan’s rebellion. Satan has however lost his divine position of ever being a worship leader ever again in God’s kingdom. This now explains the deceiver’s action of jealousy toward Adam and Eve. This is why Satan the cherub angel, lied both to Adam and Eve. The Serpents mind said if only I (serpent) can convince these new people to eat of the tree, The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad. Then I (serpent) cannot only ruin their relationship with the Creator, so then they can follow my ways, then God cannot dwell inside of them anymore, and their closeness with God would be damaged.
The Devil knew about this. That is why the deceiver lied to Eve and to Adam. Lucifer was quite successful. Here is the story that Moses writes down in Genesis 3:1-7, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden?’ The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the Garden; but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’ But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.”
Before I explain in further detail, here is some important information to know. The Bible is not clear on how long Adam and Eve dwelled in the Garden of Eden before their fall. However, the Book of Jubilees has given us some clue of how long they resided in Paradise. Depending on how accurate the Book of Jubilees is, it records that Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden for seven years during the first week of the first jubilee. In the Garden of Eden (Gan-Eden), sin got a foothold on Adam and Eve, and God no longer dwelled “inside” of them. Instead, God dwelled “with” them. God knew in advance that their fall from grace would happen, but most importantly, Elohim still wanted to have fellowship with them and with humanity. After they had eaten of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze. The man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. The Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” It is tragic that our first parents had lost the Garden of Eden and were expelled from that land because of their sins. It is tragic because they slowly pulled away from their relationship with God. The Lord had already known that they were to fall. Why did God stop dwelling “in” our first parents? He now had to dwell outside of them because of their evil intentions and ways. So the Lord decides to test them next. With His words of love, what does God say in response to their sin? “But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, ‘Where are you’?” His response to Adam was incredible. It was not as if God did not know where Adam was. He did know! However, God was waiting for a response from Adam. Perhaps He was waiting to hear, “I still love you, My Adonai, and I still need you in my life.” Because God still yearned to commune with His creation, Adam and Eve, Elohim had constructed for man an eternal plan and a place to dwell in next.
As we progress further into God’s master plan, He still has a very important message to tell us. When YWHW commanded Moses and Aaron to build the tabernacle, there had to be certain measurements and a particular way of building the tabernacle for the Lord. For God says to them in Exodus 25:9: “In accordance with all that I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.” Therefore, the Lord God still had a burning desire in His heart and spirit to dwell with the people of Israel, for they had been in the desert for quite some time and would be for approximately forty years. During those trying years for the people of Israel, their God still wanted to be with them. He says in Exodus 25:8, “And have them make me a sanctuary, so that I may dwell among them.” Tabernacle means place of dwelling or sanctuary. Ever since the fall of Adam and Eve, the separation of sin between man and the Lord was great. He could no longer live inside of man. Therefore, God wanted a place of worship (a tabernacle) to dwell and commune with man.
It was Aaron and his sons who served as priests and high priests in the tabernacle, during the time of the forty years of wandering in the wilderness. In Exodus 40:11-15, God spoke to Moses and said, “Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting, and shall wash them with water, and put on Aaron the sacred vestments and you shall anoint him and consecrate him, so that he may serve me as priest. You shall bring his sons also and put tunics on them, and anoint them, as you anointed their father that they may serve me as priest: and their anointing shall admit them to a perpetual priesthood throughout all generations to come.”
The tabernacle consisted of two rooms. A beautiful veil separated each room. The first room was called the “Holy Place.” That is where the golden lampstand, the altar of incense, and the table of showbread were located. The second room was called the “Most Holy Place.” The Ark of the Covenant was stationed there. It was only the high priest that could go into the Most Holy Place (Holy of Holies). That happened once a year on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). If you remember, Moses entered the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord. He heard the voice speaking to him from the mercy seat, located between the two cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant. Another verse which speaks of God communing with man is Leviticus 16:2. “The Lord said to Moses: Tell your brother Aaron not to come just at any time into the sanctuary inside the curtain before the mercy seat that is upon the ark, or he will die for I appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.”
The physical presence of YHWH, would meet Moses, as well as the High Priest, between the two cherubim on the mercy seat. The book of Numbers 7:89 says: When Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, he would hear the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the Ark of the Covenant from between the two cherubim; thus it spoke to him. Another instance when God would speak to Moses, yet he could not enter into the “Tent of Meeting” is in Exodus 40:34-38, Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled upon it and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Whenever the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out on each stage of their journey; but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, before the eyes of all the house of Israel at each stage of their journey.
Is this not awesome, can you imagine experiencing something like this in the Old and New Testament periods. How God yearns for them and for their relationship with their Creator, you see God loves us so much and desires us that we should want Him in our lives. There is a parallel description found in Matthew 23:37, ‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! ‘How often have I desired together your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.’ This is how strong God’s connection with us is, that He “desires us” No matter what our current situation we are in, even in our rebellion, God will still speak to us and will keep speaking to us until He gets through to us the importance of following Him. Because only through Elohim our Creator, will we find true rest and peace amongst turmoil in this world or in our daily life, that is why our Creator keeps on desiring us, since only through Him do we have contentment when He speaks to us in our situation or turmoil.
Next, an important place where God spoke to the children of Israel was inside Solomon’s temple. The story starts in 2 Samuel chapter 7:2 with King David. He says, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.” The Lord God spoke with King David in 1 Chronicles 22:8. In that verse, He says to David, “You have shed much blood and have waged great wars; you shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood in my sight on the earth.” Adonai had a better idea. Instead of using David, He decided to use his son, Solomon. Then further, in 1 Chronicles 22:6, David called for his son Solomon and charged him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel. Through many wars, which King David fought in, it has made him disqualified in building a Temple for their God. David said to his son, “My son, I had planned to build a house to the name of the Lord my God. But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, I have shed too much blood.”
The shepherd and king had reigned over all of Israel for 40 years- 7 years in Hebron, and 33 years in Jerusalem. Before David’s death, they anointed Solomon as the Lord’s prince. In Chronicles 3:2, King Solomon began building the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on top of Mount Moriah, (where the current Temple Mount presently stands). The Lord had always spoken between the two cherubim on the mercy seat, and He spoke to King Solomon and the people in various ways. After the temple was built, “the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.” In chapter 6 verse 1, Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he would reside in thick darkness.” Another reference is in chapter 7 of 2 Chronicles. After King Solomon had ended his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. The priests could not enter because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house. When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground. They worshipped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “For he is good for his steadfast love endures forever.”
These progressions of God continuing with humanity really are remarkable. Just like King Solomon praying and the Shekinah Glory of God manifesting itself in the temple, the Lord God can answer our prayers. However, it will not be in the same manner as Solomon. God can still answer our prayers through various means, though they will possibly be through dreams and visions or supernatural acts in our life. Elohim can also answer prayers that are big or small.
Another important aspect to all of this is when you first enter into “The Holy Place.” Standing next to the high priest is the “Altar of Incense.” You are probably wondering what The Altar of Incense is, and what its purpose is. “It is located in front of the curtain that is above the Ark of the Covenant, in front of the Mercy Seat that is over the covenant, where I will meet with you.” The priest daily and nightly kept The Altar of Incense, by going and placing divinely made incense on top of the altar. In addition, this specially made incense would make the smoke go straight up, for it was a sweet aroma made for God alone. The smoke rising up out of the incense would symbolize the prayers going up to God. This is why God made a separation of what is holy and what is profane. When someone was profane with what was holy, they were separated from their tribe and cast out permanently. This is why Exodus 30:9 clearly mentions: “You shall not offer unholy incense on it, or a burnt offering or a grain offering, and you shall not pour a drink offering on it.”
As the high priest offered incense, the smoke went straight up. Similarly, a person’s prayer goes straight up to God the father. In the book of Psalms chapter 141:2 David says, “Let my prayer be counted as incense before you and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.” In Addition, in the New Testament, John writes in chapter 5 of Revelation verse 8, “When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.”
Remember what God said in Exodus 25:22. “There I will meet with you and from above the mercy seat.” It was a personal experience for Moses. He met with God face to face. Numbers 12:8 says, “With him I speak face to face clearly, not in riddles; and he beholds the form of the Lord.” When Jehovah speaks to us like He did with Moses, He will not reveal Himself physically to us, as He did with Moses. That is until Christ comes to bring us home or when He comes entering the Eastern Gate in Jerusalem. Our Creator will speak to us firmly but also lovingly about what we have been praying about. God reveals Himself to us through nature, prayer, praise and worship, and even through reading the Bible. For Him to act according to His will and to communicate to His children is an incredible thing to witness in our personal lives. This is called true love; the love He has for His children. Our Lord and Creator said that our bodies are a temple, and Paul agrees with God and says in 1 Corinthians 6:19, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?” This is why the Messiah stressed so much that we should take care of our bodies and why we should not mark our bodies, such as tattoos. Jesus Christ even gave us guidelines about not drinking blood or eating anything that could harm us. In addition, in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, Paul wrote down, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person.” I believe a good comparison can be found in Matthew 21:12, 13, “Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. He said to them, ‘It is written My house shall be called a house of prayer but you are making it a den of robbers.”
What it has to do with a man’s body is simple. God’s dwelling place was the temple and the people who were selling the doves inside the temple were defiling God’s sanctuary; hence, they were defiling the sanctity of God’s holy presence or the Shekinah Glory. In a way, the temple was a resemblance of the flesh of God while He resided over the Mercy Seat between the two cherubim. God’s temple is holy and you are that temple. That is why Jehovah showed us the difference between what is holy and what is profane so we do not defile ourselves. In Ezekiel, it explains in chapter 44:23, “They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.” This is why God gave all who follow Him a command. His commands are for our benefit and safety from things that are sinful. This is why it is so pertinent to follow our Shepherd, and to hear Him and follow Him wherever He may take us and whatever He may say to us. Darkness can have no fellowship with the light and in 2 Corinthians chapter 7:1, Paul mentions this important factor that ties all of this together. “Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and of spirit, making holiness perfect in the fear of God.” The Bible says, “Be holy as I am Holy.” Those words that came from His mouth should echo in our spirits. If we have become defiled from any type of sin, we are no longer holy but have become profane and have become spiritually and physically soiled by our sins.
We need to repent of our wickedness and ask God to forgive us and purify us through His Blood; and of course, we need to do this with a true heart when we confess our unrighteousness to our righteous Savior. Since we are not our own, the Messiah had to die on the cross because of our unrighteousness. Jesus Christ’s blood atonement that He shed for our sins made it possible for Him to live inside of us. In addition, when we had accepted His salvation, our sins were totally covered, and we were made righteous before our Lord, Jesus Christ. So let us remember what Paul said in Hebrews 12:1, “Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us looking to Jesus.”
EUNUCHS AND THE 144,000 JEWISH LAST DAY PROPHETS
By Prince Handley
The Ethiopian eunuch, a man of great authority in the government of Candace, Queen of Ethiopia, who also had charge of a the treasury for the queen, was riding in a deserted area from Jerusalem to Gaza, returning to Ethiopia. He had been worshiping in Jerusalem and probably was an Orthodox black Jew.
The worship of Jahweh, G-d of Israel, has been carried on in Ethiopia since the time the Queen of Sheba returned from visiting King Solomon around 1,000 BC (or 3000 Hebrew calendar).
Legend has it that there was a son born to the Queen of Sheba who was fathered by Solomon. Even to date the Falasha (black skinned Ethiopian Jews) are Orthodox believers. Many were air lifted a few years ago to Israel. It is believed there are still about 2000 left in Africa.
This Ethiopian eunuch was reading the Scroll of Isaiah (Yeshaiyahu) out loud while traveling in his chariot. Philip, the evangelist, had been preaching to great crowds in Samaria.
“And Philip went down to the city of Shomron [Samaria], and proclaimed unto them the Messiah.
The multitudes listened with one accord to the things that were spoken by Philip, when they heard and saw the signs which he did.
For unclean spirits (demons) came out of many of those who had them. They came out, crying with a loud voice. Many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed.
And there was much joy in that city.? [Acts 8:5-8]
However, God sent an angel to Philip to tell him to leave the large crowd of people and go to one person: the Ethiopian eunuch.
But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Arise, and go toward the south to the way that goes down from Yerushalayim to `Aza. This is a desert." [Acts 8:26]
So Philip obeyed the angel and went.
“The eunuch was sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Yeshaiyahu [Isaiah]
The Spirit said to Philip, "Go near, and join yourself to this chariot."
Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Yeshaiyahu (Isaiah) the prophet, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?"
He said, "How can I, unless someone explains it to me?" He begged Philip to come up and sit with him.
Now the passage of the Scripture which he was reading was this, "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. As a lamb before his shearer is silent, so he doesn't open his mouth.
In his humiliation, his judgment was taken away. Who will declare His generation? For his life is taken from the earth." [Isaiah Chapter 53, Tanach]
The eunuch answered Philip, "Who is the prophet talking about? About himself, or about someone else?"
Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture, preached to him Yeshua.
As they went on the way, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "Behold, here is water. What is keeping me from [performing the Mikvah] being immersed?"
And Philip said, If thou believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered and said, I believe that Yeshua ha Meshiach is the Son of God.
And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.
And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip; and the eunuch saw him no more, for he went on his way rejoicing.? [Acts 27-39]
In Jeremiah Chapter 38 we read of another Ethiopian eunuch, Ebed-Melech (`Eved-Melekh the Kushite). The prophet Jeremiah had been cast into a dungeon because he spoke the truth to King Zedekiah [Tzidkiyahu]. There was no food, no water, only mire in the dungeon.
Ebed-Melech, the Eunuch, pleaded with the king to have Jeremiah released. The king gave the eunuch permission to do so. Then Ebed-Melech took men with him and took old clothes and old rags, and let them down by ropes into the dungeon to Jeremiah.
“And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah [Yirmeyahu], Put now these rags and worn-out garments under your armpits, under the ropes. And Jeremiah did so. So they drew up Jeremiah with the cords, and took him up out of the dungeon.? [Jeremiah 38:12-13]
The Ethiopian eunuch comforted, delivered, and brought Jeremiah into favor; let me ask you: What are you doing to comfort, help, and bring favor to those who speak for the G-d of Israel?
NOTICE:
1. An Ethiopian Eunuch helped a man of God, a Jew. Jeremiah’s day: 600 BC (3400 Hebrew calendar).
2. A man of God helped an Ethiopian eunuch have a personal relationship with the Messiah of the Jews and brought the opportunity of salvation to a Gentile nation. The early New Covenant Church: 50 AD (4050 Hebrew calendar). The church in Ethiopia grew strong but there was never a record of missionaries in the early church going to Ethiopia. A man who was preaching to multitudes was directed by an angel to go to one man. Then ... the Spirit of the LORD transported him to Azotus [Ashdod].
3. At times, service to one individual is more important than to great crowds.
4. God still uses angels today ... AND ... The Ruach Elohim still transports people today when they need it ... “Spirit flight? is still available in Kingdom work.
"For I, YAHWEH, do not change; therefore you, sons of Ya`akov, are not consumed.? [Tanach - Old Testament Malachi 3:6]
“Yeshua the Messiah is the same yesterday, today, and forever.? [Brit Chadasha - New Testamant Hebrews13:8]
5. G-d still has eunuchs today.
“For there are eunuchs, that were so born from their mother's womb: and there are eunuchs, that were made eunuchs by men: and there are eunuchs, that made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.? [YESHUA - Matthew 19:12]
Right now there are 144,000 Jewish male virgins ... 12,000 out of every tribe of Israel who will be prophets of G-d (nabi'm) in the final days of Planet Earth. Oh, they may not know what tribe they are from, but G-d knows every tribe and all the members of each tribe. He has the hairs of your head numbered! These are 144,000 Jewish males undefiled with sex ... have never had sex with a woman or anything or anyone ... separated unto God for special service. Some of these may be, or will be, eunuchs who have prepared themselves for this calling. They will prepare the earth for the re-appearing of Messiah Yeshua to establish His Kingdom.
"He that is able to receive it, let him receive it." [Y'shua]
Baruch haba b’shem Adonai!
Prince Handley
Time: 11 minutes, 20 seconds (with music interspersed)
Size: 10.3 MB
Contact: PrinceHandley@gmail.com
Website: WWW.PODCASTSATELLITE.COM
The Ethiopian eunuch, a man of great authority in the government of Candace, Queen of Ethiopia, who also had charge of a the treasury for the queen, was riding in a deserted area from Jerusalem to Gaza, returning to Ethiopia. He had been worshiping in Jerusalem and probably was an Orthodox black Jew.
The worship of Jahweh, G-d of Israel, has been carried on in Ethiopia since the time the Queen of Sheba returned from visiting King Solomon around 1,000 BC (or 3000 Hebrew calendar).
Legend has it that there was a son born to the Queen of Sheba who was fathered by Solomon. Even to date the Falasha (black skinned Ethiopian Jews) are Orthodox believers. Many were air lifted a few years ago to Israel. It is believed there are still about 2000 left in Africa.
This Ethiopian eunuch was reading the Scroll of Isaiah (Yeshaiyahu) out loud while traveling in his chariot. Philip, the evangelist, had been preaching to great crowds in Samaria.
“And Philip went down to the city of Shomron [Samaria], and proclaimed unto them the Messiah.
The multitudes listened with one accord to the things that were spoken by Philip, when they heard and saw the signs which he did.
For unclean spirits (demons) came out of many of those who had them. They came out, crying with a loud voice. Many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed.
And there was much joy in that city.? [Acts 8:5-8]
However, God sent an angel to Philip to tell him to leave the large crowd of people and go to one person: the Ethiopian eunuch.
But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Arise, and go toward the south to the way that goes down from Yerushalayim to `Aza. This is a desert." [Acts 8:26]
So Philip obeyed the angel and went.
“The eunuch was sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Yeshaiyahu [Isaiah]
The Spirit said to Philip, "Go near, and join yourself to this chariot."
Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Yeshaiyahu (Isaiah) the prophet, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?"
He said, "How can I, unless someone explains it to me?" He begged Philip to come up and sit with him.
Now the passage of the Scripture which he was reading was this, "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. As a lamb before his shearer is silent, so he doesn't open his mouth.
In his humiliation, his judgment was taken away. Who will declare His generation? For his life is taken from the earth." [Isaiah Chapter 53, Tanach]
The eunuch answered Philip, "Who is the prophet talking about? About himself, or about someone else?"
Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture, preached to him Yeshua.
As they went on the way, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "Behold, here is water. What is keeping me from [performing the Mikvah] being immersed?"
And Philip said, If thou believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered and said, I believe that Yeshua ha Meshiach is the Son of God.
And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.
And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip; and the eunuch saw him no more, for he went on his way rejoicing.? [Acts 27-39]
In Jeremiah Chapter 38 we read of another Ethiopian eunuch, Ebed-Melech (`Eved-Melekh the Kushite). The prophet Jeremiah had been cast into a dungeon because he spoke the truth to King Zedekiah [Tzidkiyahu]. There was no food, no water, only mire in the dungeon.
Ebed-Melech, the Eunuch, pleaded with the king to have Jeremiah released. The king gave the eunuch permission to do so. Then Ebed-Melech took men with him and took old clothes and old rags, and let them down by ropes into the dungeon to Jeremiah.
“And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah [Yirmeyahu], Put now these rags and worn-out garments under your armpits, under the ropes. And Jeremiah did so. So they drew up Jeremiah with the cords, and took him up out of the dungeon.? [Jeremiah 38:12-13]
The Ethiopian eunuch comforted, delivered, and brought Jeremiah into favor; let me ask you: What are you doing to comfort, help, and bring favor to those who speak for the G-d of Israel?
NOTICE:
1. An Ethiopian Eunuch helped a man of God, a Jew. Jeremiah’s day: 600 BC (3400 Hebrew calendar).
2. A man of God helped an Ethiopian eunuch have a personal relationship with the Messiah of the Jews and brought the opportunity of salvation to a Gentile nation. The early New Covenant Church: 50 AD (4050 Hebrew calendar). The church in Ethiopia grew strong but there was never a record of missionaries in the early church going to Ethiopia. A man who was preaching to multitudes was directed by an angel to go to one man. Then ... the Spirit of the LORD transported him to Azotus [Ashdod].
3. At times, service to one individual is more important than to great crowds.
4. God still uses angels today ... AND ... The Ruach Elohim still transports people today when they need it ... “Spirit flight? is still available in Kingdom work.
"For I, YAHWEH, do not change; therefore you, sons of Ya`akov, are not consumed.? [Tanach - Old Testament Malachi 3:6]
“Yeshua the Messiah is the same yesterday, today, and forever.? [Brit Chadasha - New Testamant Hebrews13:8]
5. G-d still has eunuchs today.
“For there are eunuchs, that were so born from their mother's womb: and there are eunuchs, that were made eunuchs by men: and there are eunuchs, that made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.? [YESHUA - Matthew 19:12]
Right now there are 144,000 Jewish male virgins ... 12,000 out of every tribe of Israel who will be prophets of G-d (nabi'm) in the final days of Planet Earth. Oh, they may not know what tribe they are from, but G-d knows every tribe and all the members of each tribe. He has the hairs of your head numbered! These are 144,000 Jewish males undefiled with sex ... have never had sex with a woman or anything or anyone ... separated unto God for special service. Some of these may be, or will be, eunuchs who have prepared themselves for this calling. They will prepare the earth for the re-appearing of Messiah Yeshua to establish His Kingdom.
"He that is able to receive it, let him receive it." [Y'shua]
Baruch haba b’shem Adonai!
Prince Handley
Time: 11 minutes, 20 seconds (with music interspersed)
Size: 10.3 MB
Contact: PrinceHandley@gmail.com
Website: WWW.PODCASTSATELLITE.COM
Tower of Babel’s Ruins Waiting for Archaeologists
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Archaeologists are hoping to save the ruins of the Biblical era Tower of Babel, located in Iraq, and learn how it was built before it crumbled under the weight of confusion.
Following years of devastation under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein and the ensuing American invasion of Iraq, World Monuments Fund conservationist Jeff Allen told The New York Times this week that archeologists are beginning to work on ancient Babylonian sites and possibly restore some of them.
No one has broached the idea of reproducing the Tower of Babel, which the Creator destroyed because of the generation’s attempt to compete with Him, "make a name for ourselves," and build a tower to the skies while everyone in the world still spoke one language.
The Bible relates that their effort turned to confusion, with no one understanding anyone else, and that the tower became a self-destructive effort, both physically and morally..
“All this is unexcavated. There is great potential at this site. You could excavate the street plan of the entire city,” said Allen.
As a first step, experts are working on a plan to prevent further deterioration of the mud-brick ruins, which were damaged by Hussein’s personal building projects.
A mound of mud-brick buildings is all that remains of the ancient city in Babylon where the Tower was being built, whose foundations appear to be a square of earthen embankments, measuring 300 feet on each side.
King Nebuchadnezzar II, who reigned nearly 2,600 years ago, tried to rebuild the Tower of Babel to a height of almost 300 feet.
It is not clear whether the original building was actually a “tower,” an English translation of the Hebrew term, or was a “ziggurat,” a stepped pyramid that was common at the time. Building materials consisted of mud and brick because stone was not readily available.
Nebuchadnezzar described how "gold, silver and precious stones from the mountain and from the sea were liberally set into the foundations" and how to rebuild it he called on "various peoples of the Empire, from north and south, from mountains and the coasts.”
The rebuilt tower also began to crumble, but a Greek historian, visiting the site 2,570 years ago, wrote, “It has a solid central tower, one furlong square, with a second erected on top of it and then a third, and so on up to eight. All eight towers can be climbed by a spiral way running around the outside, and about halfway up there are seats for those who make the journey to rest on."
(IsraelNationalNews.com)
Archaeologists are hoping to save the ruins of the Biblical era Tower of Babel, located in Iraq, and learn how it was built before it crumbled under the weight of confusion.
Following years of devastation under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein and the ensuing American invasion of Iraq, World Monuments Fund conservationist Jeff Allen told The New York Times this week that archeologists are beginning to work on ancient Babylonian sites and possibly restore some of them.
No one has broached the idea of reproducing the Tower of Babel, which the Creator destroyed because of the generation’s attempt to compete with Him, "make a name for ourselves," and build a tower to the skies while everyone in the world still spoke one language.
The Bible relates that their effort turned to confusion, with no one understanding anyone else, and that the tower became a self-destructive effort, both physically and morally..
“All this is unexcavated. There is great potential at this site. You could excavate the street plan of the entire city,” said Allen.
As a first step, experts are working on a plan to prevent further deterioration of the mud-brick ruins, which were damaged by Hussein’s personal building projects.
A mound of mud-brick buildings is all that remains of the ancient city in Babylon where the Tower was being built, whose foundations appear to be a square of earthen embankments, measuring 300 feet on each side.
King Nebuchadnezzar II, who reigned nearly 2,600 years ago, tried to rebuild the Tower of Babel to a height of almost 300 feet.
It is not clear whether the original building was actually a “tower,” an English translation of the Hebrew term, or was a “ziggurat,” a stepped pyramid that was common at the time. Building materials consisted of mud and brick because stone was not readily available.
Nebuchadnezzar described how "gold, silver and precious stones from the mountain and from the sea were liberally set into the foundations" and how to rebuild it he called on "various peoples of the Empire, from north and south, from mountains and the coasts.”
The rebuilt tower also began to crumble, but a Greek historian, visiting the site 2,570 years ago, wrote, “It has a solid central tower, one furlong square, with a second erected on top of it and then a third, and so on up to eight. All eight towers can be climbed by a spiral way running around the outside, and about halfway up there are seats for those who make the journey to rest on."
(IsraelNationalNews.com)
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