As we enter the Yamim Noraim, ימים נוראים the 10 Days of Awe from Rosh Hashanah or the Feast of Trumpets to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, may we turn from any ways that trample underfoot the glory of the Name of the LORD or the testimony of His holiness. Let us rejoice in His gracious forgiveness!  

Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity

And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession?

He does not retain His anger forever,

Because He delights in unchanging love.

He will again have compassion on us;

He will tread our iniquities under foot.

Yes, You will cast all their sins

Into the depths of the sea.

You will give truth to Jacob

And unchanging love to Abraham,

Which You swore to our forefathers

From the days of old.

Micah 7:18-20

Fall Mo'edim (Appointed Times of the LORD) Schedule

Rosh Hashanah/Feast of Trumpets  (Leviticus 23:23,24)
1 Tishrei 5774 | Sunset 9/4/2013 - Sunset 9/5/2013
The biblical calendar changes to a new year. This is a special sabbath, falling midweek.

Yom Kippur/Day of Atonement  (Leviticus 23:26-32) 
10 Tishrei 5774 | Sunset 9/13/2013 - Sunset 9/14/2013
This is another special sabbath, and rather than a feast, calls to "deny yourselves," which is interpreted as a fast.

Sukkot/Feast of Tabernacles or Booths  (Leviticus 23:33-43) 
15-22 Tishrei 5774 | Sunset 9/18/2013 - Sunset 9/26/2013
The first and last day are special sabbaths. This is a great celebration, calling for rejoicing with the community of faith.

Parashat Ekev 

פרשת עקב

“If You Follow”

It’s All About Love

Torah Portion: Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25

Haftarah:

Isaiah
49:14-51:3

B'rit Chadashah:

Romans
8:31-39

27 July 2013
20 AV 5773

The Creative Force of Love

It’s clear from the beginning, Adonai is a God of love.
He loves us far more than we love Him. 

The testimony is resplendent. The immeasurable expanse of the universe, populated with innumerable magnificent heavenly bodies, and an infinitesimal measure of particles, discretely balanced to present a singular planet in a singular solar system, a singular habitation to sustain His beloved creation ... that we may come to know “the LORD your God, the great and awesome God, is among you. Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the LORD your God, also the earth with all that is in it” (Deuteronomy 7:21, 10:14).

In the B’rit Chadashah (New Testament), we are instructed regarding love from Torah:

• “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5, Matthew 22:37).
• “...you shall love your neighbor as yourself...” (Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 22:39)

It’s an unfortunate misjudgment of the Almighty among some that the Old Testament is all about judgment, whereas the New Testament is all about grace.

The creative force of YHVH is LOVE. The LOVE of God bestowed forgiveness through His chesed חסד, grace, and taught man to LOVE and forgive. This radical ideal changed history, and set standards for ethics and morality that stand to this day. One of the great Hebrew sages taught: “The world rests upon three things: Torah, service to God, and bestowing chesed (grace and lovingkindness).” Pirkei Avot, Ethics of the Fathers

The Divine LOVE with which God manifested creation is a standard for humanity: LOVE your neighbor, LOVE the stranger, show forth His charity, His compassion, and His justice. Build a world that conforms to the blueprints of His LOVE!

For the LORD your God is God of gods 

and LORD of lords,

 the great God, mighty and awesome, 

who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. 

He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, 

and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. 

Therefore love the stranger, 

for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. 

You shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve Him, 

and to Him you shall hold fast, and take oaths in His name. 

He is your praise, and He is your God, 

who has done for you these great and awesome things 

which your eyes have seen.” 

—Deuteronomy 10:17-21

You say, “but wait, there’s an ‘if’!” 

“Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers. And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you. You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall not be a male or female barren among you or among your livestock. And the LORD will take away from you all sickness, and will afflict you with none of the terrible diseases of Egypt which you have known, but will lay them on all those who hate you” (Deuteronomy 7:12-15).

Yes, Adonai constructed the universe with spiritual laws as immutable as the natural laws He created. Like gravity, they are purposeful and beneficial. When disregarded (such as jumping off a building), one must be aware of the consequences. The LORD has given His Word that His beloved creation may know how to live a pleasing life before Him and be blessed. This is what He desires for us. 

His spiritual laws express His LOVE. “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (I John 5:3).

The law of LOVE is just, ethical, and balanced with grace and mercy. The plumb line is extended from Heaven. Let us look upward to His higher way and be humbled and transformed by the prescient LOVE that first apprehended us. “We love Him because He first loved us” (I John 4:19).

The LOVE of God is faithful, transcendant, and triumphant, as our B'rit Chadashah portion proclaims: “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God” (Romans 8:39), which we receive through our Messiah Yeshua.

Our Haftarah portion, also reminds of the faithful LOVE of God. When Israel thought herself forsaken, Adonai answered, “Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me" (Isaiah 49:15-16). In Isaiah 50:1 Adonai even challenges: “Where is the certificate of divorce?”  In spite of initiating the certificate of divorce against His adulterous bride, Israel (Jeremiah 3:8), His LOVE, mercy, and faithfulness will overcome His anger, and He will restore His bride for His Name's sake.

YHVH defined LOVE with the most astonishing revelation: “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him” (I John 4:9).

The GOSPEL in the Genealogy of GENESIS 5

Now here is a question for you to ponder. How did one become a member of God’s family prior to the death and resurrection of Yeshua? Post resurrection, now that is easy.  One, realizing they are lost in their sin and consequently on their way to an eternity separated from God, looks back to the work of Yeshua on Calvary’s tree. Seeing they are without any righteous merit of their own they put their faith in the Messiah’s once and for all work for them. They place their absolute belief in the fact that the death and resurrection of Israel’s redeemer, Jesus of Nazareth, paid the price for all their sins. His work of redemption and their faith in it makes them a member of God’s family. (Romans 10:9-11)

But for those seeking that family membership prior to the Messiah giving His life on the cross, what was the process for them? Some might say that all one had to do was keep the Law, but we know that wasn’t the case. Paul said, “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20-21). 

The Law was given to live by, to show what sin was, not to trust for one’s eternal destiny. So if not by keeping the Law, what then?

Well, others will say that family membership was accomplished by simply “believing” God. Here Abraham is pointed to. And Genesis 15:5-6 is that cornerstone text, “And He took him outside and said, ‘Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.” But was this the first, the once and for all act that gave Abraham family membership? Hebrews 11:8 tells us of an act of faith by Abraham that predates the Genesis 15 story. So if he already was in the family, what got him there? Paul throws some light on yet another possibility. 

In Acts 26:22-23 he says, “So, having obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place; that the Christ was to suffer, and that by reason of His resurrection from the dead He would be the first to proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles."

Here two points are made by Paul. The first is that the prophets and Moses spoke of a future event. The second is that the event of which they spoke was the future death of the Messiah and His resurrection from the dead. Sounds strangely like a forward view of the gospel message we speak today, a message whether looking forward to it or as in our case back on it, places sinners in the family of God by exercising faith in it. 

The gospel message is indeed found in the Old Testament. Was belief in it what placed one into the family of God? Was this the way Abraham and indeed all other Old Testament saints were made children of Adonai? We’ll let you ponder that one. 

What follows is one example of the gospel in the Old Testament. Genesis five, written by Moses, is not only a lineage but a presentation of the gospel as well. You’ve got to look for it, but it’s there. The Hebrew reader had to of had a clear understanding of what was being said as he would know what each of these names meant. All he had to do was put it together. So join us in the exercise and see what you think. 

(We find the Genesis 5 genealogy also in Luke 3:36-38 in reverse. It ends with Adam, making the point that he alone was a son of God. From Adam on, all are sons of Adam, sons of man.)

Adam אדם

Adam means man, mankind. (Genesis 1:26) Interestingly both the first man and the first woman were “Adam.” (Genesis 1:27) Eve was not named until after the fall. (Genesis 3:20)

Seth שת

Adam's son was named Seth, which means appointed. Eve said of her son: “"For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed."” (Genesis 4:25).

Enosh אנוש

Seth's son was called Enosh, meaning mortal. From the root anash, it speaks of an incurable wound, grief, sickness, or wickedness.

Kenan קינן

Enosh's son was named Kenan, which is believed to mean sorrow. (It is believed that Kenan is synonymous with Cainan.)

Mahalalel מהללאל

Kenan's son was Mahalalel. Ma’halal means blessed or praise; and El in Hebrew is God. Thus, Mahalalel means the Blessed God. Biblical names often include El, the name of God, as Daniel,  which means, “God is my Judge.”

Jared (Ya’red) ירד

Mahalalel's son was named Ya’red. The Hebrew word, yaradh, means shall come down.

Enoch (Chanoch) חנוך

Jared's son was named Enoch⎯Chanoch in Hebrew, which means teaching. “Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him” (Genesis 5:24). He did not see death, Hebrews 11:5 tells us, for he pleased God. Jude 1:14-15 also mentions Enoch prophesying the return of Yeshua: “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

Methuselah מתושלח

Enoch was the father of Methuselah, who died the year of the great flood. His name means His death shall bring.

Lamech למך

Methuselah's son was named Lamech, meaning despairing. The root word forms our own English word, lament or lamentation. 

Noah (Noach) נח

Lamech is the father of Noah. Noah means rest or comfort, for Lamech said when naming him, “This one will comfort us...” (Genesis 5:29) The Hebrew word for comfort is nacham  נחם, and not only means comfort or rest, but interestingly,  it also means repentance.

Putting it all together:

“Man [is] appointed [to] mortal sorrow; [but] the Blessed God shall come

down teaching; His death shall bring the despairing rest, or comfort.”

We encourage you to enjoy the following video teaching by Chuck Missler explaining this profound portion of text:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aM9tsBAcaOQ

As you might imagine the production of the weekly Parashah is a rather labor intensive process. Consequently some much needed R and R accounts for a brief offering from time to time. Since we have grown to love our communication with you, we will still endeavor to have some "challah" to share around the Lord’s Shabbat table. Hopefully they will pique your interest and be spiritually enriching. It is our joy to study and write. Because of you it has been our blessing to minister in this very special way.

Richest blessings to you this Shabbat!

In Messiah's Love,

Michael and Sarah Lynn

A Closer Look at a Familiar Christmas Verse

Probably one of the most well known Bible verses related to Christmas is Luke 2:14. The most familiar translation is taken from the King James version: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” 

To most, the accepted understanding has been that God’s Son came that we might have peace on the earth and spread good will amongst mankind. However, since we have not had much peace on this earth and the spreading of good will worldwide has always been in short supply we might look for another understanding.

In the original language of Scripture, Luke 2:14 reads, “Glory in highest (places) to God and on earth peace among men of goodwill.”  This exclamation carries no small amount of significance since it came from a multitude of angels who could hold their silence no longer. One angel had just announced the birth of the long-awaited Messiah to a group of shepherds. The rest—that multitude looking on, undoubtedly so excited over the birth of the Son of God, and what it was to mean for mankind—could not restrain their praise. Yet what did their words mean?

Luke 2;14 starts out this way: “Glory in highest (places) to God…”  Simply put, to glorify God means to prove true to others what God has said is true of  Himself.  That being said, the multitude of angels were stating a fact, excitedly I’m sure.  It was that in the highest places of heaven perhaps the greatest of God's promises had just been proven to be true!

Throughout the heavens all beings now knew that God had done what He said He would do, send His Son, the Second Person of the Godhead to take on the likeness of man, being born of the seed of a woman. Having proven true what He had said of Himself had brought glory in heaven to God.  And the angels in heaven could not be silent now seeing the reality of this miraculous event.

But this angelic host went on to say more, “…and on earth peace among men of goodwill.”  We most likely have understood and probably hoped that this angelic host was proclaiming that the birth of the Son of God would bring worldwide peace and goodwill to mankind. But sadly that has hardly been the case, as our history since that event bears out.  So if not that, then what was being said?

The host of angels have unanimously proclaimed that the objects of this peace are members of mankind who possess a unique quality, that of goodwill.  This begs the question, “Who are those people of goodwill and how did they come by it?”

Looking elsewhere in the Bible we can see that when an individual enters the human race there is nothing good in that basis model of human being.  Indeed we are all sinners from birth and in need of the Redeemer. The only good to be found in any of us is that which God produces through us.

So the answer to our question is that men of goodwill are those who have truly been brought into God’s family by accepting the work of redemption of the Son of God on the executioner's stake. And the peace that is to exist on earth is that which is given them for having made this decision, and then living in light of it.

Put another way, God’s peace is not universal. It is specific. While it is available to all who will accept God’s Son as Savior from sin, true peace will be manifested only in those who make this decision and then let God work through them.

This Christmas season we should revel at the immeasurable joy the heavenly host expressed as they saw God bring glory to Himself  by accomplishing what He had said would be true of Himself. A more timely thought however is this: “Are we demonstrating in our lives that unique peace that can only come by having made Yeshua (Jesus) our Messiah and Lord, and then continually manifesting that peace in our lives by allowing God to work through us?"

May the joy you experience this season be that which comes because the peace of God is really yours through the Prince of Peace. 

Blessings in Yeshua,

Michael & Sarah

Then Came Hanukkah; it was Winter in Jerusalem...

, . , “Then came Hanukkah; it was winter in Jerusalem.
Yeshua was walking in the Temple around
Solomon’s Colonnade.
Then the Judean leaders surrounded Him, saying,
‘How long will you hold us in suspense?
If You are the Messiah, tell us outright!’”
(John 10:22-24 TLB*)

Very few know that the Bible records Yeshua (Jesus) in Jerusalem for the joyous celebration of Hanukkah. In most Bible translations, it is called the
"the Feast of Dedication."

A quick look in a concordance will reveal it is indeed the eight day celebration of Hanukkah. In fact, the Hebrew word, Hanukkah means dedication. The holiday commemorates the re-dedication of the holy Temple in Jerusalem in 165 BC.

Although Hanukkah is not one of the biblical observances found in Leviticus 23,
it is a very significant holiday containing a powerful and timeless message.

It was around 168 B.C. that Antiochus IV Epiphanes and his hoard descended on Jerusalem slaughtering thousands, pillaging and desecrating the Temple, sacrificing a pig on the altar and erecting a statue to Zeus that all Jews were required to bow down to and venerate. All biblical observance was forbidden.

We are effectively living in 168BC Israel...

Tonight, December 10, 2020, at twilight, the first candle of Hanukkah is lit around the world. Often called The Festival of Light, it is also The Feast of Dedication — revealing the definitive meaning of the holiday. The Hebrew word Hanukkah חֲנֻכָּה actually means dedication, and commemorates the dramatic events in168 BC when Israel was overtaken by ungodly heathens under Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The Holy Temple was defiled and they were forced, under penalty of death, to bow to pagan gods. 

Most Israelites simply compromised all they believed in and took on the abominations of their occupiers, while some could not turn their backs on God and were slaughtered in the public square — for observing the Sabbath, circumcising their sons or refusing to eat pork. But a small band of pious men fled the blasphemies and lawlessness, vowing never to forsake the covenant of the LORD. They would become heroes, restoring Jerusalem and reDEDICATING the Holy Temple for the glory of God.

DEDICATION and COMPROMISE

The unfathomable events of 2020 bring this year’s Hanukkah commemoration into sharp focus. Like Israel, we are sorely challenged on nearly every level.

From the historical account in 1 Maccabees: (Antiochus sent sent emissaries who) “came unto Jerusalem with a great multitude, and spake peaceable words unto them, but all was deceit: for when they had given him credence, he fell suddenly upon the city, and smote it very sore, and destroyed much people of Israel.”

Reflecting on our health “overlords” — experts — who have advised and managed the novel coronavirus pandemic ... Men and women who speak with great compassion and certainty, yet have ghoulishly withheld early treatment (something NEVER done before in any disease) causing horrifying, needless suffering and mortality... I watched a doctor testify yesterday before congress about the traumatizing effect this has had on those providing ICU care — KNOWING IT DIDN’T HAVE TO BE — saying they just can’t go on much longer. It’s murderous! And they can’t get the FDA/CDC/WHO to LISTEN or BUDGE. There are now MASSIVE documented studies PROVING safe, early treatments — but we are ruled by those who are supposed to serve us yet they are DESTROYING THE PEOPLE OF AMERICA — dedicated to death. And we are complacent.

Completely opposite of all history of medical treatment, they have quarantined the healthy (rather than use prophylaxis that is widely available) and destroyed the economy — again, needlessly. (Needless that is, except for the goal of bringing us to our knees, crushing our spirits, blaming President Trump for the deaths, to clear the way for the Great Reset.)

We have cowered and obeyed when they said CHURCHES MUST CLOSE, but STRIP CLUBS, LIQUOR STORES and ABORTION CLINICS must stay open Oh, and MASSIVE, DESTRUCTIVE, Black Lives Matter/Antifa raids/riots/pillagings ARE NECESSARY and DO NOT SPREAD COVID—and contact tracers are NOT ALLOWED to ASK if a patient has attended one of these wonderful riots!

And once minimized church services are allowed to resume, NO WORSHIP SINGING IS ALLOWED. (But screaming and shreeking obscenities at police and white people is essential and healthy.) And we actually find this reasonable ... 

We can’t question any of this because censorship has come to our technologically advanced civilization. No longer does the government need to collect radios to stop people from communicating, or have to broadcast propaganda day and night from every street corner, for every major news outlet proclaims nearly the identical mis/disinformation 24 hours, 7 days a week, disorienting an entire population. 

...And our social media oligarchs scrupulously censor any contrary messages, assuring the truth doesn’t reach beyond a small circle of friends — while issuing warnings to create a sense of distrust and confusion. Repeat “offenders” will eventually be sentenced to a virtual gulag to permanently silence them. And we’re okay with that — it gives us something to tweet and meet about, and express our indignation ... while we still can.

“...the women and children took they captive...“

In our hearts (and rational minds) we KNOW that DNA exists. We KNOW that there are only two genders. Yet, society is now FORCED to propagate a lie — to say there are a multitude of genders (whatever you FEEL at the moment) and to call genetic women “men” and vice versa — to actually say that “men menstruate.” Teachers are forced to call children of one biological sex by the pronouns of another — or are participating in the transgender fad. Parents and professionals no longer offer compassionate therapy to children and young people who are struggling with gender identity (“Gender Dysphoria”) in fact, it is not allowed — rather, we are castrating boys and sterilizing pre-pubescent girls in spite of the whole of history showing the irreparable damage this does to them.

In “normalizing” LGBTQ, etc., they too, have legal access to defile our children. Until very recently, sexual aberrations and fetishes used to be private. Now they are celebrated — given an ENTIRE MONTH to celebrate with debauchery on parade in city streets and government buildings! Are there true heroes that are worshiped and celebrated in this way?! Transvestites in full “drag” — a fringe sexual deviation, previously found repugnant by most adults — are now afforded access to ply their sick sexuality upon young children — replete with bump and grind, and sometimes full body contact! Is this Sodom and Gomorrah?!

We are exposing girls and women to predators by mandating that MEN who “SAY” they identify as a woman at the moment must be allowed access to female restrooms and locker rooms. What sort of cruel madness is this?! Female sports have also been destroyed by this perversion of truth as males have been allowed to compete in female sports. THEY ARE STILL BIOLOGICALLY MALE WITH STRONGER BUILD, MUSCULATURE and STAMINA. Lies, lies, lies.

Those with spiritual insight realize that what is behind this is the Father of Lies, deceiving people to show contempt for God and His Word in Genesis 5:2: “He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created.”

The issue of abortion has utterly polarized America, with the election of Donald J. Trump as President in 2016. He has been the most pro-life President in American history, consistently proclaiming boldly that life is sacred from conception. He is the only U.S. President to attend and speak at a national pro-life rally. When his election was announced, news anchors became unhinged, saying he would take away a woman’s right to choose, and one yelled on air: “women, get your abortions now while you still can!” in tears... 

With his originalist, moral Supreme Court nominations, and bold stand for life—both at home and abroad, i.e., at DAVOS, President Trump has made bitter enemies of the Democrats, who prove themselves more and more to be anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, and rabidly anti-morality. In doing so, they have set themselves against the most vulnerable among us—babies, children, women ...

When abortion was initially legalized, it was during a time when young women were desperate to avoid the stain of shame — to be found pregnant outside the bounds of marriage used to be mortifying—considered sinful. At that time, abortion was a heartrending decision and only allowed during the first few months, before (what was believed) a fetus was believed to be “life.” 

Abortion today is used as birth control — to get rid of an inconvenience and multiple terminations is not uncommon — in fact, there are rallies where women boast of their abortions and how advantageous they have been to their lives. There is no shame of the selfishness, narcissism or callousness to life. 

“Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed; Nor did they know how to blush.” Jeremiah 6:15

 

Indeed, the lack of recognition of the sacredness of life has sunk to incomprehensible depths, with the murder of FULL TERM babies as they are being delivered is not seen as abominable infanticide/murder among many (primarily Democrats), and legislation to legalize this barbaric practice is sought in many areas of the U.S. How does this differ from pagans murdering their children to appease their gods?

“...And they put therein a sinful nation...”

The depravity of much of America — a nation founded upon biblical principles — is shocking. Yet, perhaps more shocking is the LACK of horror at the enormity of depravity and corruption!

The striking contrast between the two political parties couldn’t be greater. The Republican Party stands for preserving founding ideals (not founder’s sins), the Constitution, the biblical foundations, liberty—of speech, religious assembly, expression of faith and discourse in the public square, of self-determination (if it doesn’t infringe upon other’s rights), the sanctity of life, due process, equality of opportunity and protection, the tenet that all men (and women) are created equal by God, traditional marriage between a man and a woman, and patriotism — an appreciation for our nation that has truly been exceptional among nations in its freedom, opportunity and prosperity.

Today’s Democrat Party is not the party of JFK. The party of lawlessness, It is wildly radical, anti-American, anti-liberty, anti-Constitution, and the only equality it believes in is taking from those who have achieved and giving to those who haven’t. (Stealing and redistributing.) 

Democrats stand squarely against all biblical morality. They stand with oppressive, totalitarian nations—our enemies, not our allies. With them, they proclaim America is evil and its sins have not been overcome. Democrats stand for race distinction and hierarchy — and white guilt and punishment. They stand against protecting children and the unborn. They lie and cheat to achieve their goals.

After four years of trying one fabrication after another — using taxpayer money to fund their vendettas to try to unseat President Trump, they used the exact same machinery third world dictators used to CHEAT to win the 2020 election for a man that heads a crime syndicate taking astronomical sums from America’s number one enemy, China, and others! A man that is so compromised (many, many times worse than they tried to frame President Trump for!) as well as too ill and frail that it is patently ludicrous to imagine he could even be hired to run a fast food restaurant, it’s obvious the entire election was a fraud. 

But how would Democrats even know? If they only watch/read major media outlets, they are get carefully curated lies and HAVE NO IDEA of TRUTH! It’s not allowed. America’s election was just stolen by epic amounts of fraud and half of America believes the newscasters droning on with their lies, “No evidence of any fraud!” And FaceBook and Twitter censoring the truth. And the Democrats are fine with the censorship and loss of free speech. 

Yet, this doesn’t explain the silence on the part of the masses who DO know and yet remain silent... Those who are complacent to see this country destroyed from within ... and taken over by the globalist cabal at DAVOS. These are not unlike the Israelites who chose to compromise under Antiochus: 

“Yea, many also of the Israelites consented to his religion, and sacrificed unto idols...”

Did the idols save them? Of course not. THE FOOLS led Israel to desolation. But the story doesn’t end there.

Mattathias Maccabeus, a pious man who had fled with his sons, rather than compromise, eventually charged them to return: “Recompense fully the heathen, and take heed to the commandments of the law. So he blessed them, and was gathered to his fathers.” 1 Maccabees Ch. 2

"Then his son Judas, called Maccabeus, rose up in his stead. And all his brethren helped him, and so did all they that held with his father, and they fought with cheerfulness the battle of Israel. ...he went through the cities of Juda, destroying the ungodly out of them, and turning away wrath from Israel..."1 Maccabees Ch. 3

Israel, Jerusalem, and the Holy Temple was restored and rededicated for God’s glory. And this is the origin of Hanukkah. 

The heartrending account of the siege of Jerusalem, as well as the dramatic record of God's deliverance through a tiny band of God-fearing men is found in the historical book of 1 Maccabees. It's worth a read. It may bring a tear or two to your eyes. Following are a few random quotes:

"...the princes and elders mourned, the virgins and young men were made feeble, and the beauty of women was changed. Every bridegroom took up lamentation, and she that sat in the marriage chamber was in heaviness. ...the king sent his chief collector of tribute unto the cities of Juda, who came unto Jerusalem with a great multitude, and spake peaceable words unto them, but all was deceit: for when they had given him credence, he fell suddenly upon the city, and smote it very sore, and destroyed much people of Israel. And when he had taken the spoils of the city, he set it on fire, and pulled down the houses. But the women and children took they captive... And they put therein a sinful nation, wicked men, and fortified themselves therein. They stored it also with armour and victuals, and when they had gathered together the spoils of Jerusalem, they laid them up there, and so they became a sore snare: For it was a place to lie in wait against the sanctuary, and an evil adversary to Israel. Thus they shed innocent blood on every side of the sanctuary, and defiled it:

Her sanctuary was laid waste like a wilderness, her feasts were turned into mourning, her sabbaths into reproach her honour into contempt. And every one should leave his laws: so all the heathen agreed according to the commandment of the king. Yea, many also of the Israelites consented to his religion, and sacrificed unto idols, and profaned the sabbath.

For the king had sent letters by messengers unto Jerusalem and the cities of Juda that they should follow the strange laws of the land, And forbid burnt offerings, and sacrifice, and drink offerings, in the temple; and that they should profane the sabbaths and festival days: And pollute the sanctuary and holy people: Set up altars, and groves, and chapels of idols, and sacrifice swine's flesh, and unclean beasts: That they should also leave their children uncircumcised, and make their souls abominable with all manner of uncleanness and profanation: To the end they might forget the law, and change all the ordinances. And whosoever would not do according to the commandment of the king, he said, he should die.

...they put to death certain women, that had caused their children to be circumcised. And they hanged the infants about their necks ... many in Israel were fully resolved and confirmed in themselves not to eat any unclean thing. Wherefore the rather to die, that they might not be defiled with meats, and that they might not profane the holy covenant: so then they died. And there was very great wrath upon Israel." 1 Maccabees Ch. 1

The horrendous occupation served to try the hearts of the Israelites. Sadly, many chose compromise and forsaking "the holy covenant, and joined themselves to the heathen." While others defied the wicked ruler's edicts, paying with their lives and abominable punishments. Some pious men fled the blasphemies and lawlessness to the mountains, vowing never to forsake the covenant of the Lord.

In time rebellion arose under the strong leadership of Mattathias Maccabeus who admonished his sons:

"Now therefore, my sons, be ye zealous for the law, and give your lives for the covenant of your fathers. Call to remembrance what acts our fathers did in their time... Was not Abraham found faithful in temptation, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness? Joseph in the time of his distress kept the commandment and was made lord of Egypt. Daniel for his innocency was delivered from the mouth of lions. Fear not then the words of a sinful man: for his glory shall be dung and worms. To day he shall be lifted up and to morrow he shall not be found, because he is returned into his dust, and his thought is come to nothing. Wherefore, ye my sons, be valiant and shew yourselves men in the behalf of the law; for by it shall ye obtain glory. As for Judas Maccabeus, he hath been mighty and strong, even from his youth up: let him be your captain, and fight the battle of the people. Take also unto you all those that observe the law, and avenge ye the wrong of your people. Recompense fully the heathen, and take heed to the commandments of the law. So he blessed them, and was gathered to his fathers. 1 Maccabees Ch. 2

"Then his son Judas, called Maccabeus, rose up in his stead. And all his brethren helped him, and so did all they that held with his father, and they fought with cheerfulness the battle of Israel. ...he went through the cities of Juda, destroying the ungodly out of them, and turning away wrath from Israel..."1 Maccabees Ch. 3

After about two years of guerilla-like fighting, this small band of zealous Jews led by Judah Maccabeus miraculously routed the vast heathen armies, the enemies of God, thus reclaiming Jerusalem and the Temple.

"It is no hard matter for many to be shut up in the hands of a few; and with the God of heaven it is all one, to deliver with a great multitude, or a small company: For the victory of battle standeth not in the multitude of an host; but strength cometh from heaven. They come against us in much pride and iniquity to destroy us, and our wives and children, and to spoil us: But we fight for our lives and our laws. Wherefore the Lord himself will overthrow them before our face: and as for you, be ye not afraid of them." 1 Maccabees Ch. 3,

The great victory delivered into into the Maccabees hands seemed hollow when they  found Jerusalem "laid void as a wilderness, no children went in or out; the sanctuary was trodden down, and the joy was taken from Jacob, the pipe and the harp had ceased." When they found the holy Torah scroll, they also found the heathens had desecrated them with painted images. They put on sackcloth and ashes and fasted, rent their garments and cried out to the LORD. 

"Then said Judas and his brethren, Behold, our enemies are discomfited: let us go up to cleanse and dedicate the sanctuary. 

And when they saw the sanctuary desolate, and the altar profaned, and the gates burned up, and shrubs growing in the courts as in a forest, or in one of the mountains, yea, and the priests' chambers pulled down; They rent their clothes, and made great lamentation, and cast ashes upon their heads, And fell down flat to the ground upon their faces, and blew an alarm with the trumpets, and cried toward heaven. Then Judas appointed certain men to fight against those that were in the fortress, until he had cleansed the sanctuary. So he chose priests of blameless conversation, such as had pleasure in the law: Who cleansed the sanctuary, and bare out the defiled stones into an unclean place. And laid up the stones in the mountain of the temple in a convenient place, until there should come a prophet to shew what should be done with them.

Then they took whole stones according to the law, and built a new altar according to the former; And made up the sanctuary, and the things that were within the temple, and hallowed the courts. They made also new holy vessels, and into the temple they brought the candlestick, and the altar of burnt offerings, and of incense, and the table. And upon the altar they burned incense, and the lamps that were upon the candlestick they lighted, that they might give light in the temple. Furthermore they set the loaves upon the table, and spread out the veils, and finished all the works which they had begun to make. And offered sacrifice according to the law upon the new altar of burnt offerings, which they had made. Then all the people fell upon their faces, worshipping and praising the God of heaven, who had given them good success. And so they kept the dedication of the altar eight days and offered burnt offerings with gladness, and sacrificed the sacrifice of deliverance and praise. Thus was there very great gladness among the people, for that the reproach of the heathen was put away. Moreover Judas and his brethren with the whole congregation of Israel ordained, that the days of the dedication of the altar should be kept in their season from year to year by the space of eight days, from the five and twentieth day of the month Casleu [Chislev], with mirth and gladness. " 1 Maccabees Ch. 4

Thus the miraculous victory was finally realized. The Holy Temple was cleansed and rededicated. Moreover, God's People were cleansed and rededicated—for a time. Zeal for Adonai was returned to Israel. 

Another miracle story emanating from the rededication of the Temple is the story of the oil. When the Temple menorah was restored, which is to burn continually before the LORD (Leviticus 24:2), only one day's worth of oil was found, yet it burned for eight days continuously as new sanctified oil was prepared. Thus, Hanukkah is known by two names: the Feast of Dedication and the Festival of Lights.

The overarching themes that infuse this joyous holiday are timeless and profound:

• DEDICATION & LIGHT Adonai no longer dwells in a Temple of Jerusalem stone, but in temples of living stone. You and I carry His Name before a world populated by Antiochus Epiphanes challenging, coercing, enticing, and sometimes demanding that we compromise His inconvenient Truth or our values, in order to be accepted or avoid loss. Even among "believers," we often face such moral dilemmas. Hanukkah rips away the mask of appeasement. One cannot appease evil or compromise God's Word. Hanukkah bids us to trust valiantly in our God and His holiness. "God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5).

Yeshua, the Light of the World, was in the restored Temple in the Jerusalem, at the Feast of Dedication. Would this event have been important to Him? It was vitally important, as the Kingdom, Jerusalem, the Temple, and the Priesthood had to be restored to Israel to set the stage for His appearing! Yeshua would not have come to Antiochus' defiled ruins and a desolate, uninhabited Israel. This was not the redemption plan. Therefore, although the Maccabees historical documents are not considered canonical text, the events that unfolded were certainly prophetic in nature and under the Hand of the Almighty as He continues His infinite engagement in the work of creation ... to complete it to His glory, when all mankind will recognize their loving Father, Creator, Holy Spirit, Son of David, Son of God, when He is One.

Songs, Prayers & Food Tell the Story with Joy
Deuteronomy 6:4-7 says we are to teach our children to love the LORD. This in part is the purpose of the yearly cycle of observances and the traditional ways in which we celebrate, to tell HIS-story from generation to generation. Each Hanukkah, Jewish families tell the story of the brave Maccabees who refused to turn their back on God and Torah, of the families that suffered terribly under the godless Antiochus Epiphanes, the enemy of the God of Israel, and of the Jews who did compromise and joined him, turning their back on God. We tell our children of the miraculous faithfulness of God to the faithful few who trusted, and how God has preserved the Jewish People against all odds throughout millennia. The story of the miracle of the oil is told and objects are used that help the children remember. 

An eight-branched menorah, called a hanukkiah is lit to commemorate the eight days the Temple menorah (a seven-branched lampstand) burned. And foods fried in oil are served: Potato pancakes, called latkes (laht' kez) and jelly doughnuts, called sufganyot (soof' gahn yote). In the ancient world, and in poorer lands, oil is a precious commodity. Thus it is extravagant to prepare such fried foods. The luxurious usage of oil is declaring trust in Adonai for provision, sustenance, and survival. Again, it is a visual lesson of a spiritual truth to be remembered and passed on, generation to generation, not to be lost in this eight day joy-filled holiday of bright decorations, songs and festivities. 

This Hanukkah celebration was taking place as Yeshua spoke and said that it was His works that really tell who He is. In 10:25 Jesus goes on to say, “...the works that I do in  my Father’s name, these bear witness of me.” How intriguing to think that it was works that defeated the Syrians against great odds, that it was works that restored the Temple and re-instituted the sacrifices, and that it was possibly a miraculous work that kept the Menorah lit for eight days. ...And it is works that identify each of us as being a part of God’s family.

Works do tell who we are, don’t they? Each year around the world and for eight days the candles of the hanukkiah are lit in remembrance of this story and in celebration of what doing the work of God once brought. As we reflect on that story why don’t we think on what works we might do for our God, that His light may bring hope through us to a dark world. "For we are His workmanship—created in Messiah Yeshua for good deeds, which God prepared beforehand so we might walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10 TLB*).

חג חנוכה שמח

Chag Chanukah Sameach! Wishing you a Joyous Hanukkah Festival!

With Love,

Michael and Sarah Lynn

  *Tree of Life Bible New Covenant
CALENDAR: Chanukah 2020 
HANUKKAH BEGINS at SUNDOWN THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10 (1st candle is lit) and is CELEBRATED through SUNDOWN FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18 (light all 8 candles)