EliYah:
- Hear, O Yisrael. Yahweh is your Elohim. Yahweh is one. HalleluYah. Sh'ma Yisrael. Yahweh Eloheinu. Yahweh echad. At this time of the broadcast, I'd like to go ahead and take your phone calls.
- We like to open up the phones, got a couple of phone lines here, and one is still available. I'd like to hear from you if you have a comment or a question regarding today's study or anything on the website or anything about anything. If you just want to say shalom, Shabbat Shalom to all the brothers and sisters listening to the broadcast today, feel free to give us a call.
- Our telephone number is 417-683-3575, or you can call toll free, 866-435-4924. HalleluYah. And I believe we do have a phone call from Brother Curtis. Shalom, brother. Are you there?
Curtis:
- Yes, hello.
EliYah:
- HalleluYah!
Curtis:
- Shabbat Shalom.
EliYah:
- Shabbat Shalom.
Curtis:
- How's everything going?
EliYah:
- We're doing very well. How about you all?
Curtis:
- Good, great.
EliYah:
- Glad to hear that.
- Curtis
- Thank Yahweh.
EliYah:
- HalleluYah!
Curtis:
- [blows shofar] Wow, get the high note there. Charge! [laughs]
EliYah:
- [laughs] Charge.
Curtis:
- Everybody's napping. I don't know, my wife is doing something.
EliYah:
- You can't charge anything on the Sabbath.
Curtis:
- [laughs] Well, we'll find out. Yeah. No, you can't. You can't talk about charges. We don't. We could, but we don't.
EliYah:
- Right. We can charge forward in our walk with Yahweh, though, right?
Curtis:
- Absolutely.
EliYah:
- Amein.
Curtis:
- We were just talking about livestock and stuff just a little bit without really getting into talking about work, but I looked outside, and one of the nannies that I have on a cable was all wrapped around something.
- She's giving us a lot of milk right now, which is good. But anyway, yeah, we were talking a little bit about chickens. They're very fragile. We've got a bunch of new little chicks, little bitties that are coming up. I have to think for a minute to say how old those new ones are, but they're very fragile.
- I lost one the other day just by moving stuff around, and it got--I don't know what happened. It got knocked in the head or pressed on something. They're so fragile.
EliYah:
- Yeah.
Curtis:
- And I lost one. Well, we've got bunches of them, but still you feel bad. You're responsible. I'm responsible. I was responsible for it, and I thought, "Oh, my goodness. What did I do?"
EliYah:
- Right.
Curtis:
- Because all of a sudden it's just twitching. Oh, my goodness. What is wrong?
EliYah:
- It's one of the more gut-wrenching parts of farming is you're managing animals, and you lose animals because of your own just not being responsible enough. We had a trailer yesterday. We went out and picked up 88 chickens from an Amish farm in Seymour, and I had a trailer that fit them all just fine.
- They were all closed in, and when I got here to the house, there were seven of them that didn't make it. I think what happened was they all got kind of squashed and too much weight, too many chickens in one area, and that was a hard lesson to learn.
Curtis:
- Yeah.
EliYah:
- I had to toss them over the field, realizing that seven of them lost their life because of my irresponsibility and just not thinking about what might happen. That's one of the lessons, I guess you could say, that overall, even as parents, the responsibilities we have and seeing the things that happen as a result of what we do.
Curtis:
- Mm-hm, yeah.
EliYah:
- Anyway, do you have a comment, question, song?
Curtis:
- Yeah, we were going to sing a song. I see Mrs. Tucker just came out of wherever she was to sing a song. Right? [laughs]
EliYah:
- Sounds good.
Curtis:
- But, yeah, on responsibility, what you made me think of was--might be a little controversial if I got too deep into the subject, because brothers of mine have talked about how our wives should really feel really, really stressless and based on the fact that it all rests upon us, the men.
- We're responsible. We're over it all, everything. In encouraging our wives to follow that instruction, that command, the Torah of order and family, to just realize how stress-free that position is.
- A woman, like you were saying earlier, would really just look at the children they've borne, or some that haven't, still have a lot of household management and overseeing.
- There's a lot of things that they're in charge of and responsible for, but when it comes down to it, submitting all, submitting everything to their husbands is really a blessing for them to help us and just help us get the Word from Elohim, from the Creator, Yahweh, and encourage us to be able to hear clearly and enable us to hear clearly.
- When it comes down to it, it's really our responsibility. I flip to the other side and go, "It's not supposed to stress us. We're supposed to be able to handle." Maybe women can handle pain, childbearing, more than men can handle pain. I don't know.
- That's neither here nor there, but it's something some people mentioned, that women bear children and handle a lot of pain, but we're supposed to be able to handle the pressure and the stress, and I believe we can only with Him, only in Him, only with His guidance and His help and following with Him in His steps, Yahushua.
- Women should really see what a freeing--how free that really makes them. At the same time helping and encouraging and really counseling and everything they do with us, it really comes down to us. You made me think of it, these little things we do with the livestock and the things we've gotten into in providing for our families on our property.
- It grieves my heart sometimes, because I lost one of the in-between chickens and bitties, these new ones we have. That was my fault. And I learned a lesson, but it still grieves me a little bit.
- When you look at the big picture, it all really falls in our lap, all of it. It all really falls in our lap. Our wives should feel a little free in that and also helping us to figure it out, because of the way things come down through the channels, the order from the top down, Yahweh.
EliYah:
- There's a blessing in the covering.
Curtis:
- Right.
EliYah:
- There's a covering there to bear the great weight and responsibility of the day-to-day things, that we would walk in wisdom in the decisions that we make and seek the will of Yahweh and follow His ways. It's a really huge responsibility on the part of the husband and father of the family.
- If you realize the danger even more so--even to the extent of the wife, too, in raising children--Yahushua said that if we would cause one of them to stumble that it would be better if we had a millstone tied around our neck and be cast into the sea.
- There's a responsibility in that on the part of all of us as parents, and as wives for the children, in displaying the example of submission. They learn through a wife's submission to her husband, the blessings of obedience and trusting in Yahweh.
- They learn the blessing of the Messiah's love and the way He loves and cares for His wife. That's very somber things to consider for all of us.
Curtis:
- Yeah. It's a big responsibility, and it can be. With us, most recently, I was hearing Yahweh clearly, but I was a little bit upset over something, and I was hearing Yahweh clearly to be still, be quiet, don't say anything. It was just real difficult for me to follow that, and my wife wasn't make it easy for me to follow that either.
- I just say that and that we can make it easier on each other, or we can make it more difficult on each other. Hearing those words, hearing the quiet voice of Yahweh and just going, "Okay, I'm just going to listen to that and forget about my emotions and forget about whatever it is that's bothering me and just really listen to that quiet voice of being righteous, and good, and helpful, and overcoming.
- I posted in at the end of your study--I had a hard time hearing your study today, because I was doing it over the phone. It was a little bit low, but I posted in there from Zephaniah where it talks about His people gathering.
- It's in several prophetic writings of Yahweh protecting and covering His people. We don't have very much to worry about has long as we listen to Him and really follow His instructions and His example, Yahushua.
- There in Zephaniah there's a verse that's pretty explicit. It's a little different in different translations. It basically says that in the times of burden, or the end times, or tribulation, or whatnot, that He will protect His people.
- We really need to, as you were encouraging, to stay focused on Him and doing the work that He has given each of us to do. And we are a part of a body, so we all have different gifts, and different aspects of the life in each of our people, each of our persons, and families, and there's an order and a big picture.
- Anyway, I was just posting that in there. I'm still really hoping and working towards getting closer to those of us that appear or seem to, obviously, seem to be paying attention to His instructions and following and calling the calling that He's giving us all.
- I think we're in very exciting times. I'm not really listening too much to the media and their fear factor garbage. There's always been a big thing of getting people kind of ruffled up with fear, and that's just sin.
- Being closer together, and helping each other out, and praising, and worshiping, and dancing, and singing with each other, and studying, that's really what we're working towards.
- I think the time is more and more people are hearing and seeing that now, and that's moving along. That's why I posted that in there, that people would look at their desires to be closer and gathering together on Shabbats like this and also on a daily basis.
- I really think He's calling His people to look around and see who around--it's happening all over. It's not any one particular, but it's happening all over.
- I'm encouraging people to make the effort, not be scared, fearful, or selfish about it, but make the effort to be together more often.
EliYah:
- Very well.
Curtis:
- Yeah, yeah. That's something that's in a lot of our hearts. Obviously, I've been encouraging that for awhile, and we're working on it.
- [Music Ministry by Curtis and Maggie: "Light the Fire"]
EliYah:
- Amein.
Curtis:
- HalleluYah. Amein.
EliYah:
- That's one of my favorites that you all sing. I like that song a lot.
Curtis:
- Praise Yahweh! I want to follow Him. I want to please Him. May the words of our heart and the meditations of our mouth be pleasing to Him. [laughs] May the meditations of our heart and the words of our mouth be pleasing to Him and all of our deeds, as well.
EliYah:
- Amein.
Curtis:
- Yes. Yahweh bless y'all. We love y'all.
EliYah:
- Love you all.
Curtis:
- Yahweh bless you.
EliYah:
- Blessings to you all.
Curtis:
- Bless everyone listening. Shalom.
EliYah:
- Shalom. Brother Curtis from Florida, the Jacksonville area of Florida. I believe we have another phone call from Mary in New York. Shabbat Shalom.
Mary:
- Hi, Shabbat Shalom. I have a question. Since we all came out of Babylon the great, one way or another, and the scriptures do say there is a church at the end time, does it mean we're all in our own wilderness experience, or would you say that there is a church, a body? I know there's a body of people that are believers.
- I myself am a believer. I observe the holy days, and I believe in Yahweh and Yahushua, but I learned this independently. I didn't learn it from any of the churches I've attended. My question really is, is each one of us, do you think we're going through our own wilderness experience and then come to the true knowledge of the truth?
- So many churches are at fault, as far as I'm concerned. Me, I independently honor Shabbat. I do go to a temple, a synagogue on holy days, because I really don't know how to observe them, because it's new to me.
- I also do the Sabbath. I observe the Sabbath. I stay home, and I listen to different sermons, and people that are of a like belief system as me, that observe the holy days and Shabbat. As far as me getting on to a particular link to a group, I can't see me doing that, because I see a lot of falsities.
EliYah:
- Yeah, I would definitely offer a word of caution if we're looking for a particular denomination, or church, or assembly, or organization somewhere to say those people over there are all the true people, and everyone else is off, and they're not doing the right thing, and so they're not the true people.
2Timothy 2:19 - Nevertheless the solid foundation of Elohim stands, having this seal: "YAHWEH knows those who are His," and, "Let everyone who names the name of Messiah depart from iniquity."
Mary:
- Wow.
EliYah:
- So I guess the point I would get from that is...
Mary:
- It kind of is a wilderness experience, because Joseph was on his own and just a relationship with God, and then Moses at one point didn't really have a relationship with Yahweh, and then it was a wilderness experience. Elijah was kind of in a wilderness experience.
- Myself, I kind of feel like that's what I had to go through, because I was in two very, very strong religions--not Bible--and thinking they were the truth. Then I say to myself, is there a true religion, or is it just the Word of God? I think that's what my question is. We should be really following and not really going to a place. Am I right?
EliYah:
- I would caution against going the other direction totally either, that we be an island, crawl under a rock, and think we're serving Yahweh by being by ourself. There's a whole body of Messiah we're supposed to be connected to it.
Mary:
- But where is it?
EliYah:
- Well, Yahweh knows those that are His. How do we discern? Let's say, for instance, that we're going to take the position we see a lot of times that people are minded toward, and that is like the Seventh Day Adventist.
- They say unless you keep the Sabbath, then you're not His people, because it says the Sabbath is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever, and we're all Israel through Messiah, and so if you don't keep the Sabbath, you're not His. That's what they would say.
- Then there are some who would say unless you pronounce the sacred name the way I do, you don't have salvation, because it says whoever calls upon the name of--my pronunciation--shall be saved. And if you don't do my pronunciation, you're not saved.
Mary:
- Right.
EliYah:
- I like to use this often. There was an Amish split over whether your buggy bumper could be black or chrome. If it was chrome, then you were worldly, because you're flashy and trying to draw attention to yourself. If you're a friend of the world, you're at enmity with Yahweh, and if you're at enmity with Yahweh, how can you be saved? So you're lost.
Mary:
- I know.
EliYah:
- I'm only saying these things, not because I believe all these things.
Mary:
- No, I know.
EliYah:
- I'm saying these things, because I'm just showing how easy it is for us to find things to condemn each other over.
Mary:
- Exactly.
EliYah:
- So how do we discern what's right? How can we figure out who are Yahweh's people?
Mary:
- Exactly.
EliYah:
- Where are they? Am I connected to them somehow? Where can I find them? I'd love to find them. So where are they at? What I just shared today, the message today, I believe the Good News is very simple. The Good News is we have to believe the Messiah Yahushua. That's an important thing. And we have to repent.
Mary:
- Right.
EliYah:
- What does it mean to repent? It means to turn away from wrong.
Mary:
- Exactly.
EliYah:
- So if I'm a filthy sinner, and I'm not even a believer yet, and I find a Bible in a hotel room somewhere, and I start reading it, I get convicted of my sins, and I get on my face and start weeping and crying in repentance, and I use the name Jesus, I don't think Yahweh is standing up there saying, "Well, can't save you. You used the wrong pronunciation."
- I don't think He's up there saying, "Well, not until you obey this many commandments am I going to accept you."
Mary:
- Right.
EliYah:
- I don't think He's up there saying, "Well, your buggy bumper is chrome." Or your car bumper is chrome.
Mary:
- I know that, yeah.
EliYah:
- So what is He saying. He's saying, "I'm your Father, and because you want to do my will, I'm going to teach you my will. And even though you don't know everything yet, you're going to learn eventually, as I instruct you, at a pace that I will teach you and when I will teach you. I will make the fruit grow from the seed I plant in you by my patience."
- It's not what commandments we obey or don't obey so much as it is what do we want to do in our hearts. It's not so much where we are at now today. It's where we want to be. It's where we're going. If we have a true desire to please our heavenly Father, He's going to have wonderful, wonderful mercy.
- As many admonitions as we can see in scripture about the importance of obedience, there's just as many scriptures about how merciful Yahweh is when we fail out of weakness--not willful rebellion. The righteous man falls seven times and gets up again, but he gets up again. He doesn't live in it. He doesn't practice it. He doesn't wallow in the mud.
Mary:
- Right, right, right.
EliYah:
- Who are His people? I believe they're scattered across various churches. There might be a few here and a few there who've come to the understandings that I've come to in terms of scripture. It's easier to fellowship and sing alongside someone who's calling upon the sacred names.
- I'm crying out to Yahweh, and they're saying "God Lord" and "Jesus," it's very hard. It's not that I'm condemning them and saying "You're going to hell." It's a matter of fellowship.
- I can find a lot in agreement with Seventh Day Adventists, but I don't fellowship with them every week, because there's just too many things, but I want to share with them.
- If I start condemning my fellow man because he's not where I'm at today, I'm not where I was--I'm now where I wasn't 15 years ago.
Mary:
- Exactly.
EliYah:
- So I just condemn myself.
Mary:
- Do you think we're all scattered all over, but in our own wilderness experience, because we've come out of different churches like Babylon the great per se? Some of us were idol worshipers, but we didn't know it. I was a Jehovah Witness, and some of the things that Witnesses still say I do believe, because the Bible backs it up.
EliYah:
- Right.
Mary:
- I'm not saying all of it, obviously, otherwise I'd still be there. This is what I'm wondering, if we're in the path, He's taking us through the path, and redefining us to make us. I'll be honest with you, I never, ever--and being in New York, there's a lot of Jewish people, a lot of Jewish people, and I grew up in Brooklyn, so there was a lot of Jews there. I used to think, oh, that's a Jewish holiday.
- We even get them off here. I don't know about where you live, but in the fall when they have Rosh Hashanah, the schools close and stuff like that.
- I would have ever imagined me believing that, especially being Italian. I don't know if that makes much of a difference, but now I totally understand. It took me going out and staying out.
- I didn't want anything to do with old-time religion, because I was a Jehovah Witness, but then I went a couple of years ago and decided to pick up the Bible again and really, really heartfelt prayer, saying, "I'm sorry I turned away." I was so bombarded and the pressure of religion.
EliYah:
- It was that step, when you picked up the Bible, and you began to read it and let Yahweh speak to you directly, it was that step when your relationship with Yahweh is where it needed to be.
- When we let somebody else stand in the way, whether a man, a brother, a friend, a pastor, a father, a mother, whoever, no one gets in between us and our Elohim, because when we stand before Yahweh, whoever we're putting there is not going to be there. It's just going to be us and Him.
Mary:
- Right.
EliYah:
- So we need to make sure we're in that relationship with Him now. That was the problem with Saul. He put man in that place that Yahweh belonged. He ended up choosing the fear of men more than the fear of Elohim, and his mind was not focused in the right place.
- We need to make sure Yahweh is first in our walk and everything we do and say. If there are others who are of that same mind, Yahweh first, those are my brethren. Those are my sisters.
Mary:
- But there are no people like that here that I know. But like you say, I don't know, wrong or right, but I go to a Messianic synagogue on Rosh Hashanah, on Passover, because that's the only way I'm learning how to observe.
EliYah:
- You'll have to come out for Tabernacles to Missouri.
Mary:
- Exactly, yeah.
EliYah:
- Not that we're the only ones.
Mary:
- I know that.
EliYah:
- I would say don't be an island too much, because sometimes we get off on these ideas, and it does help to let iron sharpen iron a little bit and compare notes.
Mary:
- That's true. I do listen to--to me, that's good enough for now. I listen to your sermons. I listen to you. I started listening to you a couple of weeks ago from Richard Riley, who gave me your--and then I listen to a few other sermons that are of a like mind.
- It's funny, because the sermon that I was listening to today was about Saul, and then when I was listening to you it was about Saul, so there's a message there, I think. You had a similar sermon. You were talking about Samuel and Saul, and the other sermon I was listening to this morning, the same thing. That's weird.
EliYah:
- That's the way Yahweh works sometimes. I would say a lot of us who are listening to the broadcast are people who have no fellowship otherwise.
Mary:
- Exactly.
EliYah:
- I think that's where Yahweh has called me to try to help out in that area and encourage fellowship where we may not have physical fellowship in our area. The Fellowship Finder, if you go to EliYah.com/Fellowship...
Mary:
- Yeah, I did that, and you had somebody from Long Island. I emailed the person, but I never got an answer. I'll do it again though. It's just I'm busy. The only day I take off is Saturday. I have two jobs, whatever.
EliYah:
- It's good to fellowship. In some ways, we can't be too scattered and fragmented, because we work more effectively together as one body. I think we have needs that we can fulfill in each other.
Mary:
- True
EliYah:
- It's supposed to be by our love for each other that the disciples of Yahushua are known. There's a whole angle here that we need to be sure we're not neglecting.
Mary:
- Right--and the widows.
EliYah:
- Yeah.
Mary:
- I agree with you on that, but I, like I said, I haven't found anything I could truly feel--it's not too much truth in it. Rather than go through a Pentecostal church, a Catholic church, I'll stay from that and just read the Bible. Rather than go to a false religion, I'd rather be by myself and listen to sermons and study the scriptures on my own.
- I do study a lot, and I do try and follow my own way, as I know, a widow, and I do these things on my own, and I do the Sabbath, and I do Passover, but I can't bring myself to go into a Pentecostal church, an Episcopal church. I'm sorry, I can't.
EliYah:
- That's okay. I'd have a hard time with it. There's only so much of that I can handle. But if I was to go in for the purposes of...
Mary:
- Oh, yeah, to instruct, that's one thing, but to be a member, no.
EliYah:
- Sharing. Well, no, no. You definitely don't want to be a member.
Mary:
- Yeah, exactly. That's why I said I stay by myself. I feel like sometimes it's the wilderness experience. I'm not unhappy with it.
EliYah:
- We're not alone. Yahushua is with us. As long as we're focused on pleasing Him--there's some snares. Sometimes we think because few people are doing it, it must be right. We get in this mindset that the road is even narrower now, and it becomes a pride issue where we start thinking I must really be special now.
- I'm doing things that nobody in the world I know is doing. There's all kinds of traps and snares that we all have got to be careful about.
Mary:
- Right.
EliYah:
- Yahweh's people, just because we're part of a small people, doesn't mean we're Yahweh's people, but Yahweh's people are small. So don't be looking for a big crowed.
- But at the same time, just because it's a small group don't mean it's Yahweh's.
Mary:
- Like you said, He knows who His people are, even if they are scattered.
EliYah:
- Amein. Good questions and comments. Anything else?
Mary:
- Not that I can think of. Thank you.
EliYah:
- Good to hear from you. Have a blessed Shabbat.
Mary:
- Thank you. You, too. Bye.
EliYah:
- Shabbat Shalom. Good to hear from Mary. The last few weeks, she's called in. Couldn't last week, of course, because of the power outage we had here. Good to get some fellowship. I do strongly encourage--sometimes people run into fellowship, and then they just kind of don't fellowship anymore for various reasons. Maybe they don't feel like they're getting edified in the fellowship they do find.
- I encourage everyone that we don't fellowship just to be edified. We fellowship to edify, to serve. Sometimes we can serve others and edify them, even if we're not being edified.
- If everybody had that focus of edifying others, there's be a whole lot more edification going on. HalleluYah.
- Here comes the next caller, sure to be a tough one, Brother Richard Roe. How are you doing, brother?
Richard:
- Here I am. I got cut off, didn't I?
EliYah:
- You might have.
Richard:
- Well, anyway, I called back. [laughs] Thank you. I enjoyed Mary talking there. It was very interesting. I was listening on the phone, and I could barely hear it, but I did catch some of it.
EliYah:
- I'll have to go over here and turn that volume up a little bit.
Richard:
- All right. What I'm calling about today was something a little bit different. I think I explained to you a week or two ago that we have a verse-by-verse study of the Bible. I think I mentioned we were in Hebrews 3 and 4. We're still in there. What I want to know from you is this. In Hebrews 3 and 4, Paul is interpreting a part of the Old Testament, it appears to me.
- Is that the way it appears to you? If so, what part of the Old Testament and why that part?
EliYah:
- He's quoting the Old Testament, assuming it's Paul that wrote this.
Richard:
- That's a good assumption.
EliYah:
- Today, if you hear His voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation. That's a place where he is definitely quoting from the Old Testament. Is that what you're referring to?
Richard:
- Yes. I'm asking where in the Old Testament and why there?
EliYah:
- It's a Psalm, I believe. I can look it up for you.
Richard:
- All right. We have two or three different ideas on that in our study. That's why I'm asking.
EliYah:
- Okay. Hear His voice--harden not your heart. I'll have to back up here a little bit.
Richard:
- Sure. While you're looking, may I ask you, do you know a man by the name of Marvin T. Wilson?
EliYah:
- Yes, I've heard that name before.
Richard:
- Great. Do you have his book that he wrote on Yahweh in the Bible?
EliYah:
- Yeah, I've got that book.
Richard:
- Oh, good. I've been reading it. I've got lots of information. Do you think it's fairly accurate?
EliYah:
- I don't think I read it completely. I just kind of skimmed through it.
Richard:
- I see.
EliYah:
- I liked a lot of what I read and thought it was good and enjoyed it.
Richard:
- One thing he does mention in here that I didn't know before. Jerome, the translator, he studied for 11 years in Bethlehem with Jewish priests there, and he studied not only the Old Testament from Hebrew, but the New Testament from Hebrew also. He gives a lot of quotes in this book. You can read Jerome's writings. That part I did not know before.
EliYah:
- All right, I'm going to look up this scripture here, if you'll just give me a second.
Richard:
- I sure will. I'll shut up.
EliYah:
- Hebrews, the Spirit says, "Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts." That would be verse 6. Hang with me here. Still looking.
Richard:
- All right. You're looking where?
EliYah:
- I'm sure that is from the Psalms. Okay, here we go.
Richard:
- Is that the only time he quotes Psalm 95?
EliYah:
- Psalm 95 says:
Psalms 95:7 - For He [is] our Elohim, And we [are] the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice:
Psalms 95:8 - "Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As [in] the day of trial in the wilderness,
Psalms 95:9 - When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work.
Psalms 95:10 - For forty years I was grieved with [that] generation, And said, `It [is] a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways.'
Psalms 95:11 - So I swore in My wrath, `They shall not enter My rest.'"
Richard:
- Is that Psalm 95:11, that last one you read?
EliYah:
- Yeah, 95:7-11.
Richard:
- 7-11, okay, good. Do you think Paul may be interpreting that from Hebrews 3:7?
EliYah:
- Yeah, he's definitely discussing the analogy we have here. They did not enter His rest, even though they were in the wilderness. The ones rejected were the ones who were disobedient. He's saying, "Beware, lest you fall by that same example of disobedience." He's using that verse in Psalm 95 and interpreting that throughout.
Richard:
- Also, a little bit later there of what you read, "Today," can I assume that's in David's day? There were those who had not entered into God's rest.
EliYah:
- Yeah, there was still a rest that needed to be entered into.
Richard:
- Even in Paul's day, or the writer of Hebrews. Right?
EliYah:
- And there still is for us.
Richard:
- And to us today. So it would apply all along. That rest was God's rest. Is that the way you understand it?
EliYah:
- Well, it's like the Sabbath, but it's also an eternal Sabbath, as well, that we're looking to. There's the regular Sabbath, and that's Yahweh's rest, because He rested on that day, and then there's the eternal Sabbath that we all finally enter our rest in the Promised Land.
Richard:
- When you say "eternal Sabbath," is that a word from scripture, or is that just a phrase?
EliYah:
- We can deduct that, based on what Paul is saying here.
Richard:
- I see.
EliYah:
- There remains a rest that we are seeking to enter. We're going through this wilderness, as the children of Israel were.
Richard:
- We're going through the wilderness, you mean.
EliYah:
- Yeah, we are in a land that doesn't belong to us. This area, this kingdom is not our own. This is a strange land. We're strangers and pilgrims.
Richard:
- So would that mean a wilderness of sin also?
EliYah:
- Yeah, we are journeying through this wilderness, spiritually speaking.
Richard:
- It would be a wilderness of sin, I would assume, also.
EliYah:
- Yeah, although that wilderness is in does not mean sin like sin is transgression of the law. It's actually a name of a place. It's not literal sin like you're thinking or maybe somebody is thinking.
- The wilderness of Sin is not like a wilderness of transgressors or something like that. The word in Hebrew is translated as Sin, and it means clay or a thorn. It's not the same thing.
- They did go through the wilderness of Sin. They were on their way to the promised land.
- We are also on the way toward the promised land, and Yahushua the Messiah is going to lead us over the Jordan in the same way Yehoshua, son of Nun, led them over the Jordan. We're here in this wilderness, and we're learning Torah, just as they were learning Torah when they were in the wilderness.
- We are being tested just as they were being tested in the wilderness. They were saved by the blood of the lamb, just as we're saved by the blood of the Lamb. They were baptized in the sea, just as we are baptized in water. There's all kinds of similarities in the things they went through and how that applies to our own walk.
Richard:
- Sure. I understand the main point of Hebrews 3 and 4 is we are not to lose faith and become disobedient. That's what the sin was there.
Hebrews 3:12 - Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living Elohim;- It's lack of faith, and that would be due to disobedience.
EliYah:
- Right. Faith and obedience go hand-in-hand.
Richard:
- Very good. Now let me ask you another question in this regard. Would Ezekiel 20:12-18, for example, apply here? In other words, would he be commenting on that, rather than Psalm 95? Is there a better reason for believing that Ezekiel 20 would be referred to here, less than Psalm 95?
- In other words, there's two places he could be quoting. Psalm 95 or Ezekiel 20. Would one be preferable over the other in so far as him quoting from it?
EliYah:
- He quotes not just Psalm 95:7. He quotes it all the way to verse 11 toward the end.
Richard:
- Right, I agree.
EliYah:
- So those words are being used, and so it's definitely a quotation from the Psalm; however, Ezekiel 20 gives some details as to what kind of things they were doing that displeased Yahweh. What specifically was the disobedience? The Torah tells us, but Ezekiel gives some details here.
Ezekiel 20:12 - "Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I [am] YAHWEH who sanctifies them.
Ezekiel 20:13 - "Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes; they despised My judgments, `which, [if] a man does, he shall live by them '; and they greatly defiled My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My fury on them in the wilderness, to consume them.
Ezekiel 20:14 - "But I acted for My name's sake, that it should not be profaned before the Gentiles, in whose sight I had brought them out.
Ezekiel 20:15 - "So I also raised My hand in an oath to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given [them], `flowing with milk and honey,' the glory of all lands,- So why did he not bring them into the land? "Because they despised my judgments, did not walk in my statutes, but profaned my Sabbaths."
Richard:
- Why wouldn't He say, "Profane my Sabbath."
EliYah:
- Because there's more than one Sabbath. The Holy Sabbath, weekly Sabbath, and then there's also the holy days of Yahweh, seven holy days throughout the year. The first and second day of Unleavened Bread are two. Pentecost, the one coming up in two weeks and one day, would be the third one.
- Then there's the Feast of Trumpets in the fall, and Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles, and the last Great Day, seven holy days throughout the year that are also Sabbath.
- So He said they profane His Sabbaths. There were other Sabbath days they were profaning besides the regular Sabbath.
Richard:
- Would that include the yearly Sabbath. Every seventh year, they were to rest for an entire year. Then every 49 years, there was a Jubilee Sabbath the 50th year. Would that include those also?
EliYah:
- Well, they weren't planting and sowing in the wilderness. There was no food to be grown in the wilderness. They were receiving manna from heaven.
Richard:
- And their shoes didn't wear out.
EliYah:
- You couldn't say that they disobeyed the land Sabbath in the wilderness, because it wasn't needing to be kept there. There was nothing to grow.
Richard:
- So in Ezekiel 20, he is talking about the wilderness, the 40 years in the wilderness. He's not talking about any other time.
EliYah:
- Right. He says in verse 13:
Ezekiel 20:13 - "Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes; they despised My judgments, `which, [if] a man does, he shall live by them '; and they greatly defiled My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My fury on them in the wilderness, to consume them.
Richard:
- But he goes on to mention about that and also a little later in the chapter. If I understand you, from what you just said, he's talking only about the Sabbaths in the wilderness.
EliYah:
- Yeah, at that time, when he's talking about them rebelling in the wilderness...
Ezekiel 20:15 - "So I also raised My hand in an oath to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given [them], `flowing with milk and honey,' the glory of all lands,- Then he said:
Ezekiel 20:18 - "But I said to their children in the wilderness, `Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols.
Ezekiel 20:19 - `I [am] YAHWEH your Elohim: Walk in My statutes, keep My judgments, and do them;- So what did they do? They rebelled against Yahweh also. When they went into the land, they profaned His Sabbaths, including the land Sabbath and others. But at that time, He had mercy on them because of His name.
Richard:
- Wait a minute now. When you say "at that time," you meant in the wilderness only?
EliYah:
- Oh, no. After the generation in the wilderness, they entered the land, and the children of those who perished in the wilderness, Yahweh warned them and said, "Walk in my statutes, keep my judgments."
- So after they entered the promised land, they did not hallow His Sabbaths. They disobeyed His Sabbaths.
Ezekiel 20:15 - "So I also raised My hand in an oath to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given [them], `flowing with milk and honey,' the glory of all lands,
Ezekiel 20:16 - "because they despised My judgments and did not walk in My statutes, but profaned My Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols.
Ezekiel 20:17 - "Nevertheless My eye spared them from destruction. I did not make an end of them in the wilderness.
Ezekiel 20:18 - "But I said to their children in the wilderness, `Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols.
Ezekiel 20:19 - `I [am] YAHWEH your Elohim: Walk in My statutes, keep My judgments, and do them;
Ezekiel 20:20 - `hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I [am] YAHWEH your Elohim.'
Ezekiel 20:21 - "Notwithstanding, the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, and were not careful to observe My judgments, `which, [if] a man does, he shall live by them '; but they profaned My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My fury on them and fulfill My anger against them in the wilderness.
Ezekiel 20:22 - "Nevertheless I withdrew My hand and acted for My name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the Gentiles, in whose sight I had brought them out.
Ezekiel 20:23 - "Also I raised My hand in an oath to those in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the Gentiles and disperse them throughout the countries,
Ezekiel 20:24 - "because they had not executed My judgments, but had despised My statutes, profaned My Sabbaths, and their eyes were fixed on their fathers' idols.
Ezekiel 20:25 - "Therefore I also gave them up to statutes [that were] not good, and judgments by which they could not live;
Ezekiel 20:26 - "and I pronounced them unclean because of their ritual gifts, in that they caused all their firstborn to pass through [the fire], that I might make them desolate and that they might know that I am YAHWEH."'
Ezekiel 20:27 - "Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and say to them, `Thus says the Master YAHWEH: "In this too your fathers have blasphemed Me, by being unfaithful to Me.
Ezekiel 20:28 - "When I brought them into the land [concerning] which I had raised My hand in an oath to give them, and they saw all the high hills and all the thick trees, there they offered their sacrifices and provoked Me with their offerings. There they also sent up their sweet aroma and poured out their drink offerings.
Ezekiel 20:29 - "Then I said to them, `What [is] this high place to which you go?' So its name is called Bamah to this day."'
Ezekiel 20:30 - "Therefore say to the house of Israel, `Thus says the Master YAHWEH: "Are you defiling yourselves in the manner of your fathers, and committing harlotry according to their abominations?- So they're continuing this same pattern of rebellion, even as they entered the land.
Richard:
- That's another question that came up.
EliYah:
- Here we are today. People are still following the same pattern.
Richard:
- Does that mean that in the wilderness they were more rebellious than they were when they came into Canaan, the promised land, and does that mean we're more rebellious today than they were? How do you see that?
EliYah:
- It comes down to individuals. When you say "we" who are you talking about?
Richard:
- The people of God. That's who the Israelites were, I take it.
EliYah:
- Well, who are the people? If you're looking physically at descendants of Israel, who are we? Where are we? There's not too many of us that can say for sure that we're not. Some are sure that they are. I know that we are Israel in Messiah. If we're Israel in Messiah, then we need to live as Israel was called to live.
Richard:
- In Romans 6 and Galatians 3, it talks about the Israel of God. All of those who are of Israel are not really Israel, he says. There's two believers--those that have the faith of Abraham.
EliYah:
- Right. So since we are called to be Israelites, let's live like Israelites are supposed to live and not follow the same pattern of disobedience. I think that's what Paul is talking about here. Don't follow that pattern of disobedience that they followed.
Richard:
- Right. In order to do that, we'd have to have faith, the faith of Abraham.
EliYah:
- Right.
Richard:
- The main key for the whole thing is it is our faith and obedience that he's trying to show here, using an example those in the past.
- Those in the past in Israel, let's say, or even in first century Christians, were there a lot of those that were Christians that fell away, that were disobedient and lacked faith, as Paul seemed to indicate here? What's your feelings on that?
- Are 10% of everybody that claims to be Christians really, truly have the faith of Abraham, or is it 90%, or do you have any idea at all?
EliYah:
- If I took a poll, how would I know?
Richard:
- Yeah, how would you do it? [laughs]
EliYah:
- How would I do it? There's no way I can measure anybody's heart with a poll or survey. Yahweh knows them that are His. Like I quoted earlier in the chat room, Yahweh's people are known by Him. Paul says, "Judge nothing before the time."
- We may not know for sure until the very end, and then we'll be shocked because many who seemed to be first are last.
Richard:
- And last first.
EliYah:
- Many who are last are first.
Richard:
- Right.
EliYah:
- What's really going on in the hearts? It's something that Yahweh can show us. "Out of the heart, the mouth speaks." "You know them by their fruits." And so on. But not everyone who seems to be of Him is, and not everyone who doesn't seem to be of Him isn't of Him.
- We just have to be very discerning and be careful in our judgments.
Richard:
- Sure, yeah. Well, like in some religious organizations, if you don't do what they say, what the leadership says, then they condemn you.
EliYah:
- Yeah, I'm persuaded it comes down to the hearts. It all goes back to the Father/Son relationship. If my son wants to do my will, he cares about the will of his father, I'm going to have all kinds of mercy on him. I'm going to help him. I'm going to lead him. I'm going to guide him. But if he doesn't even care what I have to say and doesn't bother to hear--it's the same thing with our heavenly Father.
- If we don't care what He has to say, we don't even read the scriptures, we don't have any desire, or our desire is feign and fake and not sincere, then how can we have a Father/son relationship with Him? He's not going to accept that.
- If we want to do His will, we love Him, we want to serve Him, we realize all He's done for us, we want to return the love He's given to us, there's a whole lot of mercy there. I would be real hesitant to condemn any one person just on what things look like and what they're failing in on the outside.
Richard:
- That's so easy to do.
EliYah:
- Yeah. A guy who goes out and committed some of the most abominable crimes may have done so out of weakness. Maybe he stole someone's wife and committed adultery and murdered her husband.
Richard:
- Like David, you mean.
EliYah:
- [laughs]
Richard:
- Yeah, right.
EliYah:
- You've got it.
Richard:
- Okay, I do thank you very, very kindly for your time. We'll talk to you again.
EliYah:
- All right, brother.
Richard:
- Bye-bye.
EliYah:
- Shalom. Always an interesting call from Richard Roe. Yes, he keeps me on my feet, doesn't he, Faxchase? [laughs] HalleluYah! I need to be grilled. Yeah, stoked, purified, refined seven times. That's okay. Yahweh, help me endure it. No, it's not that bad. I enjoy his questions. I really do.
- I believe we have another phone call. It might be my good friend and brother John Paul. Shabbat Shalom.
John:
- Shalom aleichem! Shabbat Shalom! Good to hear you. How are you doing?
EliYah:
- We're doing fine. How are you doing?
John:
- That's good. I'm doing pretty well. I was just talking to a couple of people and put it on my heart to share something that's been on my mind recently about how much a whole bunch of people are facing a lot of troubles here recently.
- I think everybody ought to know that they're not alone in this. It seems a lot of people I talk to, a lot of believers are having serious troubles. It seems pretty common across the board, at least the folks I'm talking to.
- One of the things that occurred to me to mention was I've been hearing for years that one of the big problems that couples have is economics. When dollars get tight, a lot more divorces happen.
- An interesting thing, if you think about it, if you have your faith in the dollars in the bank, that's no more something you can touch, or see, or feel, than the Spirit of Yahweh. It's just like the enemy is showing us what a hypocrite we can be if we have our faith in the dollars in the bank versus our faith in Yahweh in our heart.
EliYah:
- Yeah.
John:
- That was one thing that I thought ought to be shared.
EliYah:
- Yeah.
John:
- I really appreciate some of the stuff you were talking about, how the love that we have one for another is what really determines whether we're of Yahweh.
- The enemy comes against us so many different ways and causes us to put each other down and really hurt each other, when the same power of that tongue, it's either going to have poison, or it's going to have a blessing. We can't have it both ways. I just thought that was something that I was supposed to share.
EliYah:
- We appreciate that very much. It's very true. Yahweh is ultimately our provider, and Yahushua spoke quite a bit about that. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about what you're going to wear, what you're going to eat, and all that. Your heavenly Father knows you need these things.
John:
- Absolutely true.
EliYah:
- Sometimes we think we need more than we really do.
John:
- I think sometimes we get that test, too, just to show us what are we really putting our faith in?
EliYah:
- Yeah, yeah. Getting back to the raw basics, if we just had food and raiment, be content therewith. That's really the bottom line. Yahweh provides the food and the clothing. He clothes the lily of the fields and the birds of the air. We're of more value than they are.
John:
- Absolutely.
EliYah:
- Yeah, definitely the power of the tongue is an area I continue to need improvement on. I've got some rough edges sometimes.
John:
- Don't we all?
EliYah:
- [laughs]
John:
- And we're never going to overcome them, as long as we don't recognize them. That's the first step to overcoming them is realizing that we've got some work to do on them.
EliYah:
- I've definitely got my work cut out for me. We all need to keep praying for each other. Yahweh, help us all.
John:
- I think there's a whole lot more going on. People don't talk about our troubles too much. I have a feeling a lot of those folks listening are having troubles that they're really not talking about, and it might be a little bit of comfort to know that they're not the only ones. I'd really admonish the parents of little children.
- If they're fighting and it's at all causing their children any trouble, it's better for them that a millstone be hung around their neck. If they could take that scripture seriously, they might be a little more careful about having their fights in front of their children.
- I think mostly we have to know we're being strengthened by these things. This is Yahweh refining us. We can be grateful for even the trouble.
EliYah:
- Amein. Good word, brother.
John:
- Well, thank you. I love you all. Please give everybody a hug. Shalom to everybody.
EliYah:
- All right and shalom to you all.
John:
- Good day.
EliYah:
- Good day, shalom. That's one area a lot of us, our homes are really where our discipleship is made or broken. We end up really getting tested in our home life. Those we're closest to, the ones we're around every day, we tend to let our guard down sometimes and not be as careful with our words as we would maybe to some stranger.
- At the same time, the ones we love the most have the greatest propensity and ability to hurt us. It hurts the most when the ones we love, the ones we're closest to, say harmful words. We ought to be even more careful with those that love us and care for us. Yahweh, help us all. HalleluYah.
- I believe there was some questions that came in during the study and afterwards.
Q. Yahushua spoke harshly, truth, to the Jewish leaders who were teaching man's laws. Should we also warn others when leaders are teaching man's laws, as well?
EliYah:
- Yeah, we definitely should warn others. What Yahushua was doing, as a prophet, was speaking the prophet's voice. He was exposing these people for what they were in their hearts. Sometimes I think people speak harshly, and they don't really know what the other person's heart is. They just think they're following Yahushua in calling people names--scribes, brood of vipers, things like that.
- They think they're imitating Him, but they don't understand the context. Number one, He's a prophet. He knew the hearts of those men. Number two, He's speaking to men who were bloodthirsty, murderous, and wanted to kill him, not because they thought He was evil, but because He was good, and they were evil.
- There's a difference. To the crowds, Yahushua spoke very matter-of-factly, but also very gently and in a manner that it would be received by the most amount of people possible.
- As far as exposing, I shared a study today. It was very strong against false teachers and people who are hirelings, and I didn't mention anybody by name, and I'm not going to. That's the job of a prophet, and I don't claim to be one.
- If Yahweh ever calls me into that office, I guess I'll start naming names. But, overall, we see scriptural truths that we all need to heed and listen to. So let's walk it out and make sure we're walking in the truth.
- Praise Yahweh for the new little one. The name is Sari Reanne [phonetic]. HalleluYah. Blessed be Yahweh. Eight pounds, ten ounces. Big baby. Lots of big babies being born lately. HalleluYah.
Q. Someone asked about Leviticus 11:35.
EliYah:
Leviticus 11:35 - `And everything on which [a part] of [any such] carcass falls shall be unclean; [whether it is] an oven or cooking stove, it shall be broken down; [for] they [are] unclean, and shall be unclean to you.- I believe the context of that is when a dead animal happens to be fallen upon an earthen stove. The stoves were made of earth ware. They weren't like the stainless steel stoves we have today.
Leviticus 11:31 - `These [are] unclean to you among all that creep. Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until evening.
Leviticus 11:32 - `Anything on which [any] of them falls, when they are dead shall be unclean, whether [it is] any item of wood or clothing or skin or sack, whatever item [it is], in which [any] work is done, it must be put in water. And it shall be unclean until evening; then it shall be clean.
Leviticus 11:33 - `Any earthen vessel into which [any] of them falls you shall break; and whatever [is] in it shall be unclean:
Leviticus 11:34 - `in such a vessel, any edible food upon which water falls becomes unclean, and any drink that may be drunk from it becomes unclean.
Leviticus 11:35 - `And everything on which [a part] of [any such] carcass falls shall be unclean; [whether it is] an oven or cooking stove, it shall be broken down; [for] they [are] unclean, and shall be unclean to you.
Leviticus 11:36 - `Nevertheless a spring or a cistern, [in which there is] plenty of water, shall be clean, but whatever touches any such carcass becomes unclean.- I don't know if this applies to a restaurant specifically, but I can tell you this. You're right in that you just ordered a steak from the local steakhouse, and just before that, they had cooked a pork chop on that same grill or fried some catfish in the same fryer that you're eating your regular fish in, or they put shrimp in there earlier, and now you're eating a French fry.
Q. Avigail Tikva asks, "Should we be warning others about a group when a teacher is not teaching scriptures and is against Yahweh's ways?"
EliYah:
- Yes, as Yahweh leads. We should definitely warn people. We're called to be restorers, repairers of the breach. We want to be aware of that. It doesn't mean you drive by a church, and you know there's people inside that church, you know it's a Sunday morning, that every Sunday morning you have to stop by every church you drive by and warn the people.
- Each of us has ministry as Yahweh leads us individually. At the same time, if you sense Yahweh leading you to speak to someone, then you should hear that leading and speak the Word.
- At this time, we're going to take your prayer requests. We're running a little bit late today in the broadcast. If you'd let us know the prayer needs out there, we will all pray together, as Yahweh's people.
- If there are any other questions, I'll get to those before prayer. Let us know the prayer needs, and we will get to those at the conclusion of the music here and the questions, as well.
- This next song is by Bill Rodgers, "I Love You Father Yahweh."
- [Music Ministry: "I Love You Father," "Springs in the Desert," "I Will Hope in Thee"]
EliYah:
- Amein. O Yisrael, hope in Yahweh from this day forth and forever. HalleluYah! Getting back to some questions that came through. There was a follow-up question on avoiding anything that's not organic, anything GMO. Now all homegrown corn is necessarily good, in my opinion.
- I do recommend the heirloom seeds. Let's say you plant a tomato with an heirloom seed. You can take the seeds out of that tomato and put it back in the ground and plant it and get a good plant the following year, something effective, good, and productive.
- Whereas, if you were to do the same with your locally-purchased seed at your grocery store, for the most part, you're going to get a very inferior plant the following year that may or may not produce fruit. That's due to the hybrid way that they do things.
- Heirloom seeds is what I use in my garden and my preference. I think there's a principle there that I'm not ready to share yet, but I'm getting closer to the understanding that we definitely need to do so scripturally to preserve the seeds that Yahweh has created.
- Somebody asked about celebration of birthdays. It's one of those areas where a lot of people may not agree with me, but I don't believe it's wrong to mark our birthday and to rejoice that Yahweh has brought us through another year; however, I recommend that we observe our birthdays on the actual birthdays, if possible, according to Yahweh's calendar.
- You definitely don't want to include the customs of today, the making wishes, blowing out candles, wearing witch hats and different things. We don't want to participate in those.
- [Music Ministry: "Lead Me to the River of Your Healing Waters"]
EliYah:
- Amein. May Yahweh fill you with His Ruach HaKodesh as you go once more into the work week ahead, and may you be used by Him to draw all men to Himself, through Yahushua dwelling in you, as you set aside the things of the flesh and focus on the things of the Spirit.
- Shabbat Shalom to your homes. We love you all. Look forward to another meeting next week, Yahweh willing. Shabbat Shalom.
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